Ray Cooper wants to see the promised memorial of the Doris Disaster, in which his father and nine other men died, at Perfume Point happen in his lifetime. Photo / Warren Buckland
Ray Cooper wants to see the promised memorial of the Doris Disaster, in which his father and nine other men died, at Perfume Point happen in his lifetime. Photo / Warren Buckland
A 91-year-old man who lost his father in a 1932 maritime disaster in Napier fears he may never see a memorial built at the site of the tragedy.
Ray Cooper's father Eddie Cooper, aged 28, was one of 10 men who died when their launch Doris made its way into the Napier harbour and collided with the barge Te Atu at 11.30pm on December 28, 1932.
They were among 31 watersiders, many of whom were wearing thick clothing.
Tug boat Coralie which had been following Doris picked up some men, as did a lifeboat from Te Atu and a launch, while others were able to swim to shore with 21 surviving.
The Doris Disaster remains Hawke's Bay's worst maritime disaster, and 26 local children lost their fathers in it.
Cooper, one of the 26, says a once-floated memorial at Perfume Point, near where the disaster took place, should happen in his lifetime. The cost estimate for it was $178,000 in 2018.
A memorial at Park Island bears the men's names, but he believes one with information at Ahuriri would help teach people about the disaster.
"I think there should be something out here [Perfume Point] where visitors to the district could come along and read about this. The mayor didn't even know about it when I spoke to her.
"They commemorate the earthquake - that was a big thing for the whole district, but in Napier here they lost 10 guys, 10 of their best taxpayers and very prolific fathers to 26 children here."
Edwin Cecil Cooper was one of 10 men who died in the Doris Disaster in December 1932. Photo / Supplied
Cooper said that about four years ago, the last verbal communication with the council had been that the plans had been approved, and they were just waiting on allocating finance.
"There was a lack of funding for the cycle track, where did that funding come from? The funding for the [gold art sculpture] in [Market St], where did that come from?"
A Napier City Council spokesperson said the council was approached by members of the community who wished to establish an artwork in Ahuriri to commemorate the Doris Disaster "that brought a grieving community together".
"This is not a memorial as the actual memorial is at the Park Island cemetery. This is a community led project and the community fundraising did not get off the ground as far as we know.
"Council facilitated the engagement of an artist and the design concept, and had geotech and structural investigations carried out.
"There have been many tragedies in Napier in our history that could be remembered by artworks installations.
"Unfortunately we do not have the funding available to provide memorials or installations for all of these but we are fully supportive of assisting community driven fundraising efforts for these."
The 10 men who died in the Doris Disaster were Walter Andrews, 39, Robert Kintore Aplin, 58, Alexander Moncrieff Boyd, 51, Eddie Cecil Brown-Cooper, 28, Harold Johnson, 40, Thomas Ridley Kitt, 39, Norman Walles Low, 38, Jethro Henry Emson Medcalf, 48, John Hopper Wilson, 67 and James Woods, 60.
The death of Cooper's father Eddie affected his life - without a father figure he said there wasn't much "mentorship" for himself, his three siblings and mother.
Cooper had an "orphanage life" from about age 11 and his mother "didn't really come back on to the scene until after we were all married and [had] homes of our own".
His mother never spoke about the disaster when they were growing up, but he has learnt about it himself over the years.
He would have liked to have met another child who lost their father in the disaster, to talk about their lives after the disaster.
"I wonder how close I ever got to working beside one of these guys in the same position as me."
The idea of a Givealittle page had been floated and Cooper hopes someone will be able to set one up.
He said it could also mean family of those who died and residents of Napier would know they contributed to the memorial.
