Former Balclutha mayor and Foodstuffs chairman Maurice Ryan was a man who believed in leading by example, injecting seemingly tireless energy into everything he undertook.
Aside from retaining a lifelong professional interest, food was also a personal passion, and his family remembers him fondly for his prodigious organisation and catering for everything from weekend get-togethers, to countless family weddings.
Born in St Kilda, Dunedin, the young Maurice enjoyed his school days at Christian Brothers, Dunedin, although he was not much interested in the academic side, he once reported.
"I left school in 1948, went there to eat my lunch and play sport. Days consisted of rugby, cricket, athletics and boxing."
After discovering farming was not for him during a spell on his uncle’s Kaiwera farm, he fell into his "dream job" aged 19.
"I became a commercial traveller, complete with company car and expense account. My area covered from south of the Waitaki River to Invercargill. Long hours and being away from home was not a problem when I was 19 and 20, but after meeting Joan [Harvey] and marrying her at St Patrick’s Basilica, Dunedin, 1953, we set up home in Invercargill. The lifestyle did not appeal, so we relocated to Balclutha."
On arriving in Balclutha that year, he declared to Joan he would one day be mayor of the town — a prediction he was to fulfil with great pride some 27 years later.
In time, an eventual six children came along, something that might have slowed most people down. However, Mr Ryan took his role as breadwinner seriously, and ensured both that he was sufficiently busy to support his family financially, while finding time to "always be home for dinner".
In 1963, he entered into a partnership in the Four Square Balclutha, then a very small store in the main street.
"The following year we bought the former Wright Stephenson building on the corner of James and John Sts and built a large new store.
"The partnership came to an end and Foodstuffs assisted me to continue on my own. I was interested in the politics of the food industry, joined the board in 1973 and was involved right through to my retirement."
That same year, he became mayor of Balclutha, an office he held for two terms.
The Balclutha Centennial Pool was opened during his tenure, and he enjoyed swimming the inaugural length in the new pool during its opening.
His family recall this as a period of peak industry and activity for Mr Ryan.
"He loved being on committees, enjoyed organising and being in charge, and would always have fantastic fundraising ideas.
"He was always on the go and doing, and would go above and beyond for any cause or role he took on."
He would tell his children: "Stick to your knitting, and be best at whatever you do, whatever it might be."
Mr Ryan remained sharp into his old age, and maintained a habit of long walks until his mobility declined in very late life. He and Joan remained devoted to one another, sharing a love of travel and family, until her death in 2021.
He had established a New World supermarket in Balclutha in 1972, and it remained his great pleasure, in retirement, to watch the grocery delivery trucks visit the present day store from his Paisley St living room.
Born on December 14, 1931, to Stanley and Marie Ryan (nee Scully), Maurice Kevin Ryan died peacefully at Ross Home, Dunedin, on October 23, 2023, aged 91. He is survived by children Shaun, Elizabeth, Maree, Judith, Brent and Michelle.
