People who spoke to the Otago Daily Times have confirmed the identity of trio who died on Saturday as John McCulloch, Richard King and his wife Heather.
Two other people were rescued after the recreational boat they were in capsized on the Riverton bar, 100m off shore, about 3pm.
Mr King had helped save Southland business Sgt Dan Stockfoods.
Its managing director, Daryl Moyles, said he had been business partners with Mr King for more than 20 years.
He said the mill had gone into receivership when the two of them joined forces to revitalise it.
Mr Moyles told Stuff that Mr King was still hands-on after retirement and would visit the Stockfoods plant regularly.
He was ‘‘passionate’’ about the company as the board chairman and a major stakeholder.
‘‘It’s a bit of a shock as he’s quite well known to the staff ... it’s devastating,’’ Mr Moyles told Stuff yesterday.
He said Mr King was an ‘‘astute’’ and innovative businessman who did a lot of volunteer work - especially with youth.
Mr McCulloch founded architect firm McCulloch Architects in Invercargill, where he worked until 2014 before retiring.
He worked on several large projects in Southland including Stadium Southland, Splash Palace and was involved in an Invercargill inner city upgrade in the late 1990s.
He was a keen recreational fisherman, and part of an active group of fishermen and pensioners in the small town.
It is believed the boat at the centre of the tragedy was not owned by Mr McCulloch and had just been purchased.
The area on the bar where the trio died was a spot the community knew to be wary of.
Local resident Hone Adams said everyone in the town was aware that, at low tide, the area around the sandbar was dangerous.
‘‘During that time of the day, people know that you need to be careful.’’
Another local, Ninian Peterson, said most boat users knew to avoid the part of the sand bar the boat went over on Saturday.
‘‘It can look deceivingly calm when it is actually dangerous,’’ he said.
Riverton Environment Centre manager Robyn Guyton said the McCullochs were loved by the community and had only been in Riverton for the past few years.
‘‘John regularly came into the store and had a lot to do with our work with the estuaries,’’ she said.
‘‘We are planning to plant a tree in the Heritage Orchard in respect to the McCulloch family.’’
Retired teacher Col Smith heard the sirens from her home on Saturday afternoon and was shocked to hear that it was the McCulloch family who were involved in the accident.
‘‘We saw the helicopters and emergency services,’’ she said. ‘‘With the tides ... people have to consider those things.
‘‘This reminded us of the drownings of two young boys a few years ago.’’
Oraka Aparima community board chairman Michael Weusten said the tragedy had hit the community hard.
‘‘We are just grieving with the family. Riverton is very quiet now.’’
Southland District councillor Don Byers, who lives in Riverton, said his thoughts were with the families.
‘‘It is a terrible tragedy. It has knocked our town pretty hard,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m feeling a lot of sympathy for the families.’’
