An adventurous family man, dedicated sports all-rounder, hard worker, committed volunteer and devout Catholic.
That is how Michael (Mick) Hanham, who died suddenly aged 83 last month, is being remembered.
At the time of his passing, Mick had served more than 50 years with the Ashburton Lions Club, given more than six decades of volunteering to the Society of St Vincent De Paul, was president of the Mid Canterbury Rugby Union, a life member of the union, and life member of the Celtic Rugby Club.
Originally from Southland, Mick had called Ashburton home since moving here aged 11. He attended St Joseph’s School for about two years before heading off to secondary school at St Bede’s College in Christchurch.
He was a founding member of the St Vinnie’s Ashburton Conference, at the age of 18.
He had some years away from the organisation to focus on raising a family, running a business and sport, but remained connected and later resumed active membership.
In recent years, Mick was the Ashburton Conference president, and was midway through a term as area president for Mid-South Canterbury when he died.
Mick was a Catholic, whose faith was important to him since childhood. He seldom missed mass on Sunday, and was a strong supporter of the Tinwald church community advocating for retaining the mass centre in Tinwald.
He served for many years until the time of his death as a eucharistic minister.
Mick worked at Fairton freezing works, followed by Fortex during the day and in the evening ran Hanham Concrete following on from his father.
Today the business is in the hands of a third generation of Hanhams, as Mick’s son Michael took it over in 2009.
Mick at one time was the owner of Ashburton Bus and Coach Service, having bought a small business and developed it.
The runs included school and tourist trips.
One such trip involved getting a large bus up Mt Cheeseman, including the need on some corners to do three point turns. It is understood some of the Australian school boys on the bus decided they would walk back down.
He also owned a taxi company and was the main driver.
His real passion was to be a farmer.
Mick and wife, Diane, while not being able to purchase a farm did buy land between the bridges over the Rangitata River and at Staveley which they later sold.
The Rangitata site was Mick’s happy place, a place of pride and joy for him as he drove a bulldozer or tractor working the land, clearing it of gorse to run sheep or cattle on.
In fact, Mick would try his hand at most things, though technology wasn’t really his friend and he avoided using a computer whenever he could.
Mick was invited to join Lions when his rugby playing days ended.
He went from being the youngest member to its longest serving member.
He was involved with many of the club’s big projects, such as cleaning up the old town clock prior to its installation at Baring Square, developing the Mt Hutt access road and conducting field tests for the proposed Lake Hood.
He held a variety of positions within the club, including president for two terms. He attended many Lions conventions and along with the service side of the organisation he enjoyed the social side.
His involvement with Mid Canterbury Rugby began 61 years ago when he emerged as a fast and strong number 8, who excelled in lineouts during his eight years playing for them.
He was proud of what he achieved on the field, having played 102 times for Mid Canterbury, scoring 20 tries. He captained both Celtic and Mid Canterbury teams.
He also dedicated his time and talent to other sports.
He did a lot behind the scenes when a boxing club was operating from the grounds at Celtic as well as the squash section.
He served as president of the Tinwald Tennis Club.
His greatest achievement in tennis was to win two gala cups, one with daughter Nichola and one with his son Michael. He continued to play into his 70s.
Another sport he excelled in was basketball and in later life he became a skier. His family said he was very competitive in whatever sport he was involved in.
He keenly followed his family in sport, always there on the sidelines supporting them with advice and guidance at the netball court or rugby field, encouraging his children, often with a loud opinion on how the game was going.
He lived his life with an adventurous spirit, bungy jumping in his 60s and riding one of his horses just months before his death.
Many of those who knew Mick would talk of his mana being such that others listened when he spoke. He was held in high regard and immensely respected.
He was a rock of his family, his greatest love in life being his wife of 59 years, Diane, his five daughters and son, 17 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
~ Dellwyn Moylan
