Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Family and friends pay tribute to 20-year-old Napier man

Sahiban Hyde
Hawkes Bay Today·
8 Mar, 2020 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Here's looking at you kid: Joshua Bailey-Cropper's family pay him a tribute. Photo / Supplied

Here's looking at you kid: Joshua Bailey-Cropper's family pay him a tribute. Photo / Supplied

The family of Joshua Bailey-Cropper, from Napier, firmly believes there couldn't be a nicer, more kind-hearted person than Joshua, as they try to come to grips with his death.

Joshua, 20, was killed in a collision between a truck and a van near Piarere, State Highway 1 in Waikato, about 11.50pm on February 28.

His step-dad Allan Roser said on the night it happened, Joshua had decided to go on a midnight "tiki tour".

"He used to do it often, he was fiercely independent," Roser said.

READ MORE:
• Hawke's Bay Today: Tony Anderson: A great dad, and a good man: a son's tribute to his father
• Things to do in Hawke's Bay this weekend
• Premium - From the MTG Hawke's Bay: Tribute to a special volunteer, a vital cog in the wheel
• Hospital renamed in tribute

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Roser has an unshakable belief that everybody who knew Joshua loved him.

"He was an amazing fella, he was about to start his apprenticeship," when the accident occurred, Roser said.

"He had just been accepted a few weeks ago, he had already done preliminary courses at EIT. He was a clever kid, but never blew his own horn."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Joshua came to Hawke's Bay from Australia when he was four and a half years-old.

"His Mum is a Kiwi. They were living in Perth. She came to Hawke's Bay to look after family, along with Josh and his older brother Alex," he said.

Discover more

New Zealand

Watch: Thieves use car as 'ram-raiser' in daylight wheel raid

09 Mar 12:58 AM

Growing up in Hawke's Bay Joshua attended Nelson Park School and Napier Boys' High, Roser said.

"Joshua was a little firebrand, he was a clown and a handsome young fella," he said.

"He had a heap of friends and they are just broken. Anyone who met him, never forgot him.

"He was a kind kid, with a big heart and fiercely protective. He had an old head on young shoulders."

A celebration of Josh's life was held at Beth Shan Chapel, Napier, on Saturday.

He was farewelled by his workmates with an "unexpected, but incredibly moving" haka, Roser said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The haka was done at the end as we carried Joshy to the hearse," he said.

"It was the most, incredibly moving thing. I have never felt anything like it.

"He was a bloody good mate to all his friends."

In Joshua's memory his extended family and friends have organised two masses for him in Columbus, Ohio, Roser said.

"You accept what's happened, Josh had an energy bigger than him," he said.

"Joy comes over you when you bring him to mind."

Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Hot summer lifts Splash Planet revenue by $150k despite fewer open days

15 Jan 02:20 AM
Premium
Business

Huge queues as EB Games' closing down sale sparks rush for final deals

15 Jan 02:10 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

'Right thing to be doing': Showgrounds sacrifice makes upcoming show the finale

15 Jan 01:13 AM

Sponsored

Discover Australia with AAT Kings’ easy-going guided holidays 

15 Jan 12:33 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hot summer lifts Splash Planet revenue by $150k despite fewer open days
Hawkes Bay Today

Hot summer lifts Splash Planet revenue by $150k despite fewer open days

'We are seeing good numbers through the doors without getting to capacity.'

15 Jan 02:20 AM
Premium
Premium
Huge queues as EB Games' closing down sale sparks rush for final deals
Business

Huge queues as EB Games' closing down sale sparks rush for final deals

15 Jan 02:10 AM
'Right thing to be doing': Showgrounds sacrifice makes upcoming show the finale
Hawkes Bay Today

'Right thing to be doing': Showgrounds sacrifice makes upcoming show the finale

15 Jan 01:13 AM


Discover Australia with AAT Kings’ easy-going guided holidays 
Sponsored

Discover Australia with AAT Kings’ easy-going guided holidays 

15 Jan 12:33 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2026 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP