Obituary: Winery founder pioneer in the field

ENTREPRENEURIAL: Wim van der Linden. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

A funeral will be held today for career engineer, former Waipukurau Borough engineer and Linden Estate Winery founder Wim van der Linden who died on Tuesday, aged 90.

Born in Delft city in the Netherlands, the eldest of 11 children of Johannes Franciscus (John Frances) van der Linden and Lucia Sophia van der Linden (nee Kragten) he qualified as a mechanical engineer at the age of 21, after four years studying at The Rotterdam Polytechnic (Ecole Polytechnique).

Having had four years in the Dutch Army, including three posted to Indonesia, after being drafted for compulsory military training following World War II, he came to New Zealand, arriving in Wellington in September 1951 on the Dutch ship Groote Beer.

Determined to see as much of the country as possible, he embarked on an extensive cycle tour of the South Island, through some of the most rugged and beautiful parts of New Zealand, combating shingle falls and swollen rivers, and traversing Haast Pass, where he would meet surveyors still mapping out the route for the highway.

A plan to do the same in the North Island was disrupted by the events of 1952 when at a dance in Wellington he met polish refugee and teachers training college student Maria Tarasiewicz. He decided to stay in New Zealand, the couple married on January 23, 1954, he became a naturalised New Zealander in October 1958, and, having had six children, they celebrated their Diamond Wedding anniversary last year.

With his Netherlands qualifications not recognised in his new country, he completed New Zealand Civil Engineering Examinations in 1955 (Sections A & B) and later Section C qualifications and became a Registered Civil Engineer on December 3, 1958.

He began his civil engineering career at the Hutt Valley Drainage Board, while he and Maria lived in Stokes Valley raising elder children Sophia, Stephen and Anne-Marie. They moved to Hawke's Bay when he was appointed borough engineer in Waipukurau in September 1959 and fourth child John was born during the two years in the town.

Moving to Napier, Mr van der Linden joined consulting engineers Powell, Fenwick and Johnson as civil engineer and became a partner in the firm two years later, while Mrs van der Linden took up teaching at St Joseph's Maori Girls College in Greenmeadows, where she worked for 24 years.

Mr van der Linden completed the post-graduate diploma in traffic engineering in 1967 at the University of New South Wales, extending his involvement with many of Hawkes Bay's engineering projects new land subdivisions, drainage projects and road construction.

Outside of the daily employment he was also very community-minded, being in 1966 a foundation member of the Taradale Lions Club, of which he was president from 1968-69. In 1969, he was Chairman of Greendale Scouts Committee in Greenmeadows, Taradale.

The history of the winery starts with the 1969 purchase of 150 acres in the Esk Valley, slightly north of Napier and they moved there in April 1970 with their six children, of whom youngest daughters Helen and Lucy were born in Napier.

The family lived and farmed in Eskdale until 2001 during which time Mr van der Linden was a member of Federated Farmers, and Eskdale-Te Pohue branch secretary from 1971-1975.

Ever entrepreneurial and innovative, he was an early adopter of new farming practices and started several new ventures on the farm including being among the first to grow grapes in the Esk Valley, along with cropping, kiwifruit, a Suffolk Sheep stud, Angora goats, beef cattle, deer, and farm forestry. The winery was established by the couple in 1989, the first on the approach from the north to the burgeoning winegrowing region of Hawke's Bay.

Mr van der Linden's involvement in the industry led to him becoming a member of the Grape Growers Association in 1970, and president of the Grape Growers Council of New Zealand during the 1980s. On behalf of Grape Growers, he contributed to an Industrial Report and submissions to Parliament, and in 2008 he was made a life member of Hawkes Bay Wine Growers Inc, in recognition of his contribution to the Viticultural Industry in New Zealand.

Linden Estate Winery was sold in 2001, the couple having moved to Ahuriri the previous year. Their sons continued some involvement in the industry, and John van der Linden is now Hawke's Bay regional vineyards manager for Villa Maria.

Wim van der Linden is survived by Maria, six children, and 14 grandchildren (one deceased) and eight great-grandchildren. The funeral will be held today at St Patrick's Catholic Church, Napier, starting at 11am.