By Scott MacLeod
HAMILTON - Despite his lust for speed and adventure, Jon Roe always chose the slowest queue at movie theatres. He just lacked the knack.
Yesterday 400 relatives and friends turned out for his funeral at the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion to recall those quirks.
Mr Roe, aged 30, died two weeks
ago when a rolling wall of water and rock tumbled his body down a stream in Switzerland - a disaster that also killed 20 other tourists.
His wife, Kelly Swanson-Roe, said: "Jonny came to mean more to me than anything in life. He died with friends. You guys take care of each other."
On Thursday, she read her husband's university results received in the post. He scored straight As for his marketing courses.
Kelly Swanson-Roe, aged 24, survived the flash flood at Saxeten Brook.
Yesterday's funeral was especially bitter for the Rev Bob Short, who officiated at the couple's wedding just three years ago.
"I've got a real knot in my stomach," he said. "They were the prince and the princess."
Others spoke of a passionate sportsman with sparkling eyes and a cheeky grin, a canny marketing manager with a love of music, animals and Indian food.
They said Mr Roe always knew what to say, and had a funny trait of praising women for their shoes when he first met them.
"I'm going to miss that Jon," said a former flatmate.
Swiss authorities are still investigating the disaster. They refused to let Kelly Swanson-Roe see her husband's body at first because of its horrific injuries, but later relented.
She has praised tour operators Contiki and Swissair for helping with grief counselling and accommodation.
The couple took the trip so they could spend time closer together after four months working apart in Auckland and Hamilton.
Mr Roe was buried at Whatawhata Cemetery.
