"He was pretty rapt to put that plaque up and to know there was at least something there from the family."
Jean Batten, who was born in Rotorua, became an international celebrity when she shattered long-distance solo flying records in the 1930s with her de Havilland Gipsy Moth and Percival Gull 6.
In later years during trips to New Zealand she twice stayed with Mr Batten's family on their Northland dairy farms at Ruatangata in 1969 and Riponui in 1975.
He briefly reflected on these visits in recollections written shortly before his death. Mr Batten was in his final year at Kamo High School when he first met Miss Batten in 1969. "It was good to finally meet her but she was fairly hard work. Life tended to revolve around Jean," he wrote.
Miss Batten stayed for a fortnight on her second visit in 1975. Mr Batten wrote that Jean probably felt isolated but appeared happy.
The family was shocked when it heard about the circumstances of her death on the Mediterranean island of Majorca in 1982. Her body lay unclaimed in a mortuary in Palma for two months before she was buried in a communal paupers' grave, joining the remains of dozens of penniless Spaniards.
Miss Batten's whereabouts remained a mystery for five years until the sad truth emerged in 1987. She was bitten by a dog, the wound become septic and the infection spread to her lungs. She refused to let the staff of her small hotel call a doctor and died of a pulmonary abscess. A bureaucratic bungle meant the New Zealand Government and her relatives were not notified.
Michele Batten recalled the out-of-the-blue comment by her husband around 1994-95 that he would like to visit his great aunt's grave one day.
"He never really talked about his emotions, but he had obviously thought a lot about it...it was always a dream, something he wanted to do," she said.
The dream was finally realised last year when Mrs Batten, who had been holidaying in India with daughter Shannon, met up with Mr Batten who made a stopover in Turkey to fulfil another wish to visit Gallipoli.
They then flew to Spain and Majorca, arriving on May 21. Unbeknown to Mrs Batten, her husband had a plaque which he carried in a backpack across the world.
"I did not know he had a plaque made up - that was a surprise to me."
She said that Ron was pretty ill by then but got the go-ahead by doctors to make the trip after having a blood transfusion.
"He tired easily but he was determined that the plaque was going to be placed. It was a wonderful family experience."
Mr Batten glued it on the wall of the communal grave and returned next day to make sure the glue had set. They also cleaned the bronze memorial.
Mrs Batten said her husband would also have wanted men to be aware of his cancer that began as a lump in breast tissue.
"Men have breasts too but they don't form in the same ways as women's breasts. If men detect a lump in their breast, they should get onto it straight away."
She said Ron told her about the lump three months after he first noticed it. "He went to the doctor pretty much the next day after I said that men get breast cancer. He did not expect it at all."
Mr Batten was survived by wife Michele, children Shane, Tarina, Kyle and Shannon, parents Jim and Rhoda, sister Jan, and five grandchildren.
