John Sturgeon, who was at the helm of the town’s volunteer fire brigade for 43 years, will move with his wife Isobel to be closer to family in Christchurch later this month.
Mr Sturgeon is synonymous with Kurow.
He has many strings to his bow and has been involved in multiple groups typical of small-town New Zealand.
He has been a JP for the past decade, chairman until recently of the Waitaki Valley Community Society, an active member of the Oamaru Garrison Band, chairman of the Kurow Museum, a St John volunteer, a trustee of the Kurow Medical Trust and has been intimately involved in many other aspects of the town since 1976. On New Year’s Day he was still in the thick of it.
The former Kurow fire chief was taking his turn as usual at the wheel of the Kurow Volunteer Fire Brigade’s vintage fire truck, ferrying excited youngsters in support of the town’s New Year Festival.
Between rides, the Dunedin-born Waitakian was somewhat philosophical when speaking to the Otago Daily Times about moving nearer to family.
"The move to be closer to them is probably the right thing at this time of life," he said quietly.
"It’s going to be a big change ... I’m probably overdue for a bit of a rest."
But he was also optimistic about starting "a new chapter" after 50 years in the Waitaki Valley, although it would be hard to say goodbye, Mr Sturgeon said.
"It’s been fine — it’s been great. We enjoyed our time in Kurow."
He came to the Waitaki Valley from Dunedin in 1973, where he started out for the old New Zealand Electricity Department at Aviemore, then Benmore.
Mr Sturgeon became a volunteer firefighter at the same time before moving to Kurow and his promotion to fire chief in 1978.
In the past 50 years he has experienced all the iterations of the electricity sector including its radical shakeup in the 1980s.
After starting with the NZED he worked as a private electrical contractor from 1976 until 1995 then returned for the refurbishment of Aviemore in the mid-1990s, then back to Benmore as maintenance supervisor before his eventual retirement in 2015.
In mid-2023 his unstinting volunteering of 50 years — 43 of them as the Kurow fire chief — was acknowledged in a double gold star from Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
"I was told by the fire service that it was the longest one ever," Mr Sturgeon said.
He has since retired as fire chief but remains active as the senior station officer for Kurow.
Kurow will feel the loss of the Sturgeon family’s contribution.
In a recent tribute, Waitaki District Mayor Gary Kircher described Mr Sturgeon as "one of Waitaki’s greatest community stalwarts".
In particular Mr Sturgeon’s "huge dedication to serving the community" as fire chief was remarkable, the mayor said.
Acting Kurow Museum chairman John Brocas said this week that Mr Sturgeon’s departure would be broadly felt.
"He will leave a hole," he said.
