The first man to speak on commercial radio in Tauranga has died at 76, with his wife of 52 years by his side.
John Phillip May broke the silence of commercial radio as the first announcer on 1ZD Tauranga in 1961.
"When 1ZD launched on February 25 in 1961, he was the person who said, 'Hello Tauranga, this is 1ZD'," former colleague and friend, The Hits chief executive Andrew Love said.
The ground-breaking job came only three years after becoming a trainee announcer in 1958.
"He was just one of those natural orators, not a lot of people have that naturally," Mr Love said.
"He was one of those guys who have the gift of the gab.
"A lot of people in Tauranga who are still around will remember John May."
Mr May met his wife, Margaret, during his time with 1ZD in Tauranga before the pair moved to Auckland with their three children and he continued to build an extensive broadcasting career.
In 1975, he landed a job as a sports broadcaster which took him on to cover equestrian and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Montreal Olympics in 1976.
His lifetime passion for horse racing worked its way into his professional life in the 1970s and 1980s when he worked as a television broadcaster on a Sunday show, commenting on recent race meetings.
The former Tauranga Trotting Club vice-president served on the New Zealand Standardbred Breeders Association, worked as the marketing manager for Harness Racing New Zealand and Auckland Trotting Club and worked as a private PR consultant in Auckland before retiring in 2001.
Although retirement did not stop him either, taking up the job of meeting and greeting visitors to New Zealand at Auckland International Airport.
Margaret said he would be remembered as "a very caring, interesting man who was very passionate about whatever he did".
"He tackled everything with passion, even when he was greeting people at the airport," she said, speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend from their Auckland home yesterday.
"It's a very interesting life he's had."
They saw a lot of New Zealand through his years in racing, she said, going to nearly every racecourse between Nelson and Invercargill during the time they livedin Christchurch.
"I used to go along every now and then just to let people know he had a wife," she laughed.
Long-time friend and New Zealand TAB's harness racing bookmaker, Steve Richardson, said Mr May was the most knowledgeable person he knew in harness racing.
The pair bonded over a mutual passion for harness racing.
"We developed a life-long friendship, we got on well and we just clicked, like you do with some people."
Mr May was well known throughout the racing community and had maintained a lot of the relationships from his professional career after his retirement.
Harness Racing New Zealand chief executive Edward Rennell called Mr May a "pioneer" of horse racing television broadcasting.
"His heart was in harness racing, so we're certainly the poorer with his passing," Mr Rennell said.
"He wore many hats and had many roles in the industry and gave an outstanding contribution over a very long time."
Mr May's life was celebrated and remembered by all his friends and family at a memorial service in Auckland on Thursday.