Mr Edwards spent much of his working life as a builder, including with Kaitaia firm Worth and Webe. His projects included the Far North Community Centre in Kaitaia, now part of Te Ahu. He also spent time in the Army, including service with J Force, where he met his future wife, followed by 12 months in Korea as a member of the Australian Army.
He and a cousin built the home in which they still live at Cooper's Beach in 1966, at a time when obtaining finance wasn't easy since the slopes above State Highway were covered in scrub and gorse.
"It was a bit of a wilderness," he said. He had milled the timber himself.
First they built a shed, which the couple called home until the house was completed, and which is still standing, now used by the neighbours. And while he wasn't sure about how much the house had cost to build, it was significantly less than the concrete driveway that he laid many years later.
Ormand and Setsuko met in Japan in 1951, and were married at St Saviour's Anglican Church in Kaitaia on September 28, 1957. Mrs Edwards had been back to Japan many times over the intervening years, in part to help care for her parents, but with no family remaining there she no longer does so. And, after more than 60 years of married life, she decided that now was the time to apply for citizenship.
"We decided that we might as well get it done now," Mr Edwards said, his wife adding that she had always been happy at Cooper's Beach.
"The air is clean and the people are very kind and friendly," she said.
A pirate in the family — page 10.