Obituary: Hans van Lith

He was a happy, humorous man who was good with his hands and loved his vintage cars and his artwork.

Hans van Lith had two great hobbies - painting and his MG cars. In fact, he frequently combined the two, summarising his life's hobbies with works of art depicting the classic cars.

Born in Nijmegen in Holland in 1932, he trained as an engineer before moving to New Zealand in 1954.

His wife, Ria, said his emigration was a happy accident, ending up in Christchurch on a whim.

"He was going to go to Canada because he loved skating. But somehow he ended up in New Zealand," she said.

He survived the war in Europe as a child in Holland, Ria said, having even had the Nazis investigate his home.

Upon arrival in New Zealand, however, things were quieter and Mr van Lith quickly established himself as an engineer of note in Canterbury, inventing a successful electricity supply system for Erewhon Station after university engineers said it couldn't be done.

He moved from engineering into irrigation and from there he retired, moving to Tauranga with his wife in 1993.

Mrs van Lith said her husband had always been good with his hands, rebuilding from scratch a number of vintage cars, but when he took up painting after his retirement he achieved a new outlet for his creativity.

"When he sat down, even at the telephone, he'd be scribbling. He was a painter. He was very good at sketching and there's so many beautiful paintings. He was so capable and so clever," she said.

President of the Tauranga Society of Artists Doreen Watson agreed, saying his award record spoke for itself.

"Hans participated enthusiastically in all the competitions and exhibitions held by the art society and has over the years been the recipient of many awards.

"He won the Carter Brothers Memorial Award in 1996 for the best watercolour painting, the Reg Chalmers Rose Bowl in 1999 for a painting in black and white, the Marge Martin Salver in 2001, 2003, 2004 [and] 2005 for the best Tauranga scene and the Joan Lushington Trophy for pencil drawing in 2009.

"For many he was regarded as a mentor," she said.

Daughter Annette Wakefield said when he wasn't painting he was focusing on his cars, "driving mum nuts with constantly wanting to buy a different car. In his retirement he focused more on his art, selling much of his work and being very involved with the Tauranga Arts Society ... he has a couple of murals around town - the carpark across the road from council buildings and inside the village between Bethlehem and Te Puna," she said.

Neville Lucas, chairman of the Bay of Plenty MG Car Club, said Mr van Lith will be missed for his passion and his contribution to the cars he loved.

"He loved his MGs. He's going to be missed as a club member, that's for sure. He was a very talented engineer and a very talented artist. He did a lot of paintings of MGs."

Mr Lucas has a Hans van Lith MG painting hanging on the wall in his office, "which is very personal", he said. Sam Boyer