Les Roughan has been described as a rural banker.
But rather than being of the financial ilk, those attending the centenarian’s funeral in Gore in December heard how his deposits were generosity, love, kindness and compassion.
"Everyone he touched were his shareholders," his son, Trevor, said.
Mr Roughan, who died on December 20, aged 101, dedicated much of his life to supporting his local community, notching up life memberships of the Gore A&P Association, South Island Shears, Southern Shears, Mandeville Country Club, Gore dog trial club and the Southland dog trial centre.
He also spent 22 years on school committees, 38 years with the Riversdale Lions Club and he was heavily involved with the Catholic Church in the area.
The second-youngest of eight children, Mr Roughan grew up at Lawrence and attended Waitahuna West School.
When his mother died, he left school and drove a team of horses on the family farm.
When his father died four years later, he carried on working on the farm for his brother, Dan, and he also started shearing.
He married Joan Irvine, of Beaumont, in 1951 and the couple had seven children. They later bought a 100ha farm at Te Tipua, selling it after it had been knocked into shape.
In 1979, the couple bought Mr Roughan’s dream farm, The Glen, at Mandeville, borrowing heavily to acquire the 485ha property.
Interest rates went to 24% but with hard work and plenty of sacrifice, he got through those difficult times and began to reap the rewards.
When he retired, he carried on living on the farm which is now farmed by son Barry.
At 95, Mr Roughan moved to the Resthaven Retirement Village in Gore but he continued to regularly visit the farm to train one last heading dog for grandson Luke.
Dog trialling was a long-standing passion. Right from a small boy, he always had a pup following him and his father always said he would make a shepherd one day.
He received his first pup from his father when he was about 5 and he started competing in dog trials when he was 16, which was when he won the cup for being the youngest competitor.
For a while it was the social aspect of the sport he enjoyed.
However, he realised he could do better if he applied himself. Once he did that, he started winning more events.
He competed at national level from 1982 until 2019, some years qualifying up to four dogs for the New Zealand championships. The last time he competed at New Zealand level was with Flirt when he was 95.
In his 90s, Mr Roughan commented how lucky he was that he had kept good health and that the sport let him compete alongside 18-year-olds.
He estimated he trained between 60 and 70 dogs in his lifetime and he also bought some.
Those of note included Tag, Hope, Joy, Rain, Brin, Queen, Dick, Jill, Blaze, Ash, Syd, Laddie, Bounce, Rene, Prince and Flirt.
He travelled with Trevor to many dog trials and, on most occasions, out would come "Old Blue", the gin case, as it was affectionately known. About three months before his death, he presented Trevor with the case, saying "I think you have waited long enough."
Mr Roughan loved the camaraderie of dog trialling and, particularly after the death of his beloved wife Joan in 1997, he put even more effort in, travelling all over the country and carrying a stick embossed with both his name and that of his wife.
He won two Southland championships and one Otago championship and one of his greatest thrills was being first to run, with dog Jill, at the new Canterbury A&P showgrounds in Christchurch.
Barry said his father had three main loves: his family, the farm and his community.
"His love for his family was certainly put to the test with five teenage boys that liked to push the boundaries. It must have come of some relief when they started to get married off and pulled into line by our respective wives," he quipped.
There were times his family never dreamed their father would live to 100. He was very ill with a bleeding ulcer in the mid-1970s, two of his sons taking time off school to do the lambing beat.
In his late 60s, he was treated for bowel cancer and, when he came out of hospital, he had lost so much weight Barry thought he would never work again. But he started walking his dogs daily, going a little further each day, and was back on deck in three months.
Gin was his favourite tipple — Gordon’s Gin delivered a case of it on his 100th birthday for being such a great testament to their product.
Mr Roughan, who was predeceased by son Stephen, is survived by sons Michael, Trevor, Chris and Barry, daughters Pauline and Katrina, 18 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
- By Sally Rae
