Plane crash doctor to be farewelled at aerodrome

Plane crash victim Dr Ralph Saxe. Photo / supplied

The Manawatu doctor killed in a plane crash in Feilding last week will be farewelled at the aerodrome he took off from on his last flight.

Ralph Saxe, 51, died, along with friend Brett Ireland, 50, when the small plane they were in crashed in Timona Park last Monday.

The crash came about 35 minutes after Dr Saxe took off from the Taonui Aerodrome, near Feilding, in the plane he co-owned.

Friends and family of the well-known local doctor will farewell Dr Saxe at a funeral service at the aerodrome at 11.30am on Thursday.

A keen flier, Dr Saxe had his private pilot's licence and was part of the Feilding Aero Club and the Manawatu Aero Club.

Among those expected to attend his funeral are his wife Joanne and daughter Esleigh, and his immediate family from South Africa - parents Ronald and Amor Saxe, brother Clive Saxe and sister Leighshe Hodson.

In a statement last week, Dr Saxe's family described him as a "larger than life" family man.

Dr Saxe worked extensively in South Africa and New Zealand. He was managing director at the Palms Medical Centre in Palmerston North, where his wife is also a practice manager, and was a member of the MidCentral District Health Board for two years from 2002.