Snr Const Witehira, a 49-year-old father of four who was chairman of East Otago High School board of trustees, died suddenly on Wednesday at the school’s year 10 camp at Glenorchy in the Queenstown Lakes district.
Mr Low, a former Senior Constable based at Hampden, worked with him for about 10 years.
Before their police careers, the pair attended King’s High School in Dunedin, where Mr Low was in the year above Snr Const Witehira.Speaking from Hanmer Springs, Mr Low said his former colleague’s death had hit him hard.
"I’m still trying to process that the big guy’s gone. He didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he was an extreme family man that went to church. It’s an absolute shock that he’s gone and that Palmerston community just won’t be the same. He’s done a lot for them."
He described Snr Const Witehira as the "ultimate professional" and "one of those guys ... nothing fazed him. There was no job too big, too small, too mundane or too dangerous. He just seemed to instil confidence when you were with him. He would help you out at the drop of a hat whether he was working or not. If I rang him up and needed a hand with something he was always willing to come up."
Snr Const Witehira and Mr Low received Silver Merit Awards for professionalism and courage after they were shot at after laying road spikes during a police pursuit in February 2009.
"When you’re looking at a rural policeman who has been in an area for 13 or 14 years, that’s an amazing legacy. He was a rugby coach [at East Otago High School]. He was doing all sorts of community projects and helping out, whether it was helping the school dock lambs’ tails as a bit of a fundraiser or putting down hangis at the high school. Swimming sports, carnivals, fairs, he was in there."
When asked what he would miss most about his former workmate, Mr Low said it would be the little things.
"On a hot day he’d call in and we’d go and grab an ice cream from the shop at Hampden. I’ll just miss him for being that sort of guy."
- Daniel Birchfield
