"He was a good enough player and he moved up the grades all right.
"I didn't want to show favouritism, of course, but I never held him back, either," Ron says with a laugh.
Ron and Shirley say their son's sense of humour caught them by surprise when they received a delivery of a bucket and shovel sent from Bunnings Warehouse.
That was the first they knew that Graeme had purchased a share for them in a racehorse named Lyrics Way.
Mum Shirley says Graeme, as the eldest of their three children, showed early academic ability as well and there were some great teachers at Aramoho School.
She credits well-known Wanganui cyclist Nick Pyle, who was a teacher at Aramoho School, with giving her son a good start.
"He took him under his wing and encouraged him with his school work," she said.
Graeme Christie owns a holiday home at Lake Rotoiti where Ron and Shirley often visit and their other two children, Roger and Karen, like to go there with their families to meet with Graeme and his family during summer.
Speaking from his Auckland office, Mr Christie said he is not the only person who grew up in Cumbray Place to go out and do well in the world.
"There were a lot of families with young children living there in those post-war years and they were hard-working people building their houses and raising children.
"I remember dad laying the concrete driveway and the neighbourhood men all coming to help and having a few beers together afterwards.
"It was that kind of neighbourhood and a great place to grow up," he said.
