Retired former Rotorua Maori Land Court judge Norman Francis Smith, who died last month, was at the centre of some of the country's most important land title issues, including the Lake Taupo lakebed.
Friends and family who described him as a "kind, generous, loving man" say that when he tookoff his judicial robes "he was just an ordinary bloke who enjoyed the simple pleasures of life".
The 78-year-old father of five sons, who died peacefully at his Tauranga home on July 24, was farewelled at St Mary's Immaculate Catholic Church on Monday, last week.
The service was attended by many of his friends and former colleagues, including a number of High Court judges and other judicial officers, as well as representatives from the high commissions of Western Samoa, Niue and the Cook Islands.
Judge Smith's judicial career included his working as deputy chairman of the Waitangi Tribunal, a High Court judge in Niue and the Cook Islands, and Chief Justice of Western Samoa.
His youngest son Jonathan Smith, 38, who lives in Tauranga, said his father was a "good man and a great dad"..
His son said their father's compassion for people and his kindnesses knew no bounds, and he gave generously to lots of charities dear to his heart. These included the NZ Deaf Society and the Alzheimer's Society, after his 76-year-old wife Florence, whom he married in Dunedin in 1958, was diagnosed with the disease in 2005.
Mr Smith said his father worked hard at whatever he was doing, including caring for his wife, until he was forced to admit her to a rest home, which "broke his heart".
After graduating with a law degree in 1961, he joined Potts & Hodgson law firm in Opotiki in 1963 and became a partner in 1966, working there for 18 years.
He was appointed a Maori Land Court judge for the Waiariki District, based at Rotorua, in 1984, which included regular sittings in Te Puke. In 1985, he was seconded by Western Samoa for three years to establish a Lands and Titles Appeal Court.
During the last 18 months of his term he also held office as Chief Justice, and on his return to the Maori Land Courts bench in Rotorua he was promoted to Deputy Chief Judge of Maori Land Courts in Wellington.
Judge Smith and his wife retired to Tauranga in 1999 but his legal career was far from over. He continued to do judicial circuit work in the High Courts of the Cook Islands and Niue, and held court in the Cook Islands as recently as April this year. Sandra Conchie
