Martje "Marcia" Gezina Eastment, 79, of Putāruru, died in a two-vehicle crash in Matamata on August 16.
A woman who died in a Matamata crash has been remembered as a “great big character” who was “larger than life”.
Martje Gezina Eastment, 79, also known as Marcia, of Putāruru, died after a two-vehicle crash that critically injured two others on August 16.
Eastment, a former volunteer at the New Zealand Timber Museum in South Waikato, was originally from the Netherlands.
She had no family in NZ and only distant relatives left in her home country.
A distant cousin from the Netherlands, Pieter Jonk, told the Herald Eastment grew up as an only child in a small village called Overschild, before moving to NZ.
Jonk described Eastment as an avid traveller and said she had different jobs all around the world.
“She adored her mother and took her everywhere. She stood up for the minority and could not deal with injustice,” he said.
Jonk’s wife, Petra Bos, said Eastment had a “big heart” for animals.
“We knew her as a sparkling, eccentric woman. She was intelligent and had some pretty interesting stories [to tell],” she said.
“It’s sad that we will never see or speak to her again.”
One of Eastment’s NZ friends, Tony Jacques, described “Marcia” as a “busybody” with a thick Dutch accent, who went out of her way to help people.
“She was unbelievable,” he said.
Jacques had volunteered at the NZ Timber Museum in Putāruru for more than two decades, when one day; “Marcia just hopped along and offered her help”.
They volunteered together for about eight years, with Eastment being a “very important volunteer at a time when we needed it the most”.
“She was always on demand and ready to help out, just rushing from here to there, and we’d talk for hours.
“The museum wouldn’t have functioned without her over that period of history.”
Another of Eastment’s friends, Adrienne Bell, echoed Jacques’ sentiments. Bell was a council member when she met Eastment in 2010 while overseeing museum redevelopments.
“Marcia became quite invaluable to the museum,” she said.
Bell said when Eastment came to the museum, she brought “boxes and boxes of books” along, which she stored at the museum.
“Because she instilled herself with her books, she could relieve the staff in the office, run events, and guide tours. She brought everyone donuts.
“She just fell in anywhere ... [and] got to know lots of people there.”
Bell said Eastment was a generous person. A few years ago, Bell told Eastment she was considering buying a dehumidifier.
“Next thing, she brings me these two things that weighed a ton.
“I’ve still got them sitting here as my memorial to Marcia,” she laughingly said.
Bell believed Eastment would leave a big hole in the local community as she was a “presence around town”.
“She’d always say, ‘Putāruru is my family’.
“She was very gregarious, well-known, and loved.
“She was what you would call a great big character that everyone knew and was fond of in Putāruru.
“She was visible, vibrant, and was just larger than life.”
According to Bell, Eastment did not want a funeral, so nothing had been planned at this stage.
Emergency services were called to the two-vehicle crash on the corner of Pohlen Rd and Waharoa Rd East in Matamata on August 16, about 5.25pm.
A witness, who asked not to be named, was driving home when her partner called her about the crash.
“[I was] only a minute in front of him so spun around,” said the woman, who is a nurse.
“The sole occupant [of one of the cars] was passed away by the time I got there and checked for a pulse,” she said.
A survivor was flown to hospital by helicopter while another was driven by ambulance.
The crash is being investigated by police.
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.