OBITUARY: Principled campaigner had passion for the land

THOMAS HUGH CROSSE 1929-2006
A Patoka farmer remembered for his passion for the land was farewelled at a packed St John's Cathedral, Napier, yesterday.
Thomas Hugh Crosse, 77, died suddenly in Australia on March 22 when he and his wife Jane were on their way to England to see their daughter Sarah for her birthday and his sister Susan, who also lives there.
Mr Crosse, whose family farmed Patoka Station, was born in Napier, the son of Hugh Crosse and Mira Kenham, an English actress. The two met on board a ship travelling from India to New Zealand.
His father Hugh Crosse was a First World War veteran who returned to uniform for six years to fight in the World War 2.
Thomas Crosse was educated at Hereworth School and Wanganui Collegiate School before heading to Massey Agricultural College.
In 1954 he married Jane Wood, the daughter of a Napier lawyer and old family friend.
Mr Crosse had a deep and wide involvement in education and his community. His grandfather, Thomas Ezekiel Crosse, was one of the founder of Woodford House, the Havelock North school for girls where Sarah was educated.
Thomas was on the board of governors at Woodford for many years and board chairman of the board of Hereworth for 13 years.
He was president of the Wanganui Collegiate Old Boys' Association and on the board as their representative.
Mr Crosse was also Federated Farmers' representative on the Electoral College of the Meat and Wool Boards.
It was in his role on the board of Richmond that Mr Crosse fought his biggest fight.
He was elected a director of Richmond in 1973. In 1978, with Sir Lew Harris, the board fought off a takeover bid by Brierley.
In the early 1980s he was chairman of Pacific Freezing, a joint venture between Richmond and Dawn Meat.
It was during this time that the Oringi meat plant south of Dannevirke was built.
The board tried desperately to stop Dunedin-based meat company PPCS's hostile takeover of Richmond.
Former Richmond chief executive John Foster said he met Mr Crosse about 1980 when he was chairman of the Richmond board.
"And that is when I first became aware of his strength, integrity and decency."
In the 1990s a Maori consortium called HKM owned 35 percent of Richmond.
PPCS began buying HKM's shares and at first Mr Crosse welcomed their input.
However, when they used their shareholding to dump two Hawke's Bay directors he became concerned.
He and nine other shareholders formed the Bell Group to take legal action to find out what PPCS was up to.
Documents obtained under disclosure revealed that PPCS was planning steps to a takeover that breached company law and that HKM was in fact, PPCS in disguise.
A High Court judge condemned PPCS's actions as gross commercial misconduct.
Mr Crosse remained concerned at what he saw was unethical behaviour and urged the Bell Group to take the case to the Court of Appeal.
The court agreed PPCS was wrong but also said the High Court had been too harsh and effectively handed control of Richmond back to them.
The Bell Group failed in a bid to take the case to the Privvy Council but they did succeeded in lifting the price PPCS paid for Richmond.
Mr Foster said Mr Crosse's determination to see right done had him flying to Sydney in 2003 to the annual meeting of the Westpac Bank to ask them if they were aware their client PPCS was involved in an illegal takeover.
To everyone's surprise he was given speaking time.
"He certainly got their attention in his tweed jacket and got to meet the chairman and the bank's in-house lawyer after the meeting."
However, further meetings with the bank in New Zealand went nowhere.
Mr Foster said Mr Crosse was a determined letter-writer who wrote to Cabinet ministers and prime ministers.
He even returned his supplementary minimum payment sheep subsidy cheque back to Robert Muldoon, but received only a receipt from the Consolidated Fund.
Mr Crosse was a keen amateur golfer. His father had been New Zealand national amateur champion and started a tournament at Paraparaumu called the Nomads.
Mr Foster tells a story of a time Mr Crosse had been playing golf at Patoka with a friend when his tee shot hit a wire fence and bounced into the rough.
His opponent offered him another shot which he declined because the rules applied only to overhead wires, not fence wires, and played the ball where it lay - and promptly chipped it straight in.
Son Willie in his eulogy said Mr Crosse was a farmer first and foremost.
"Farming fed his soul and along with it went his passion for the land."
Family friend and accountant Bill Dent said Mr Crosse's quiet philanthropy paid many school fees at Hereworth, Woodford and Wanganui Collegiate.
His generosity extended to seeing many young farmers he knew either start or extend their holdings with interest-free loans from him.
Mr Crosse's coffin was made this week from macrocarpa by his son Chris.
The Patoka Station wool brand with Mr Crosse's initials and his age were on one end.
Mr Crosse is survived by his widow Jane, sisters Susan and Catherine, daughter Sarah, sons Willie, Ben and Chris, and eight grandchildren.