In his teenage years Ike worked on farms and in a grocery store and eventually at a horse stud at Raukawa until he joined the army in 1942.
He was posted overseas in 1945 and remembers arriving at the port of Tewfik in Egypt to a hailstorm.
"Apparently it hadn't rained for 16 months and we arrived in our shorts to this storm."
The war was at an end and the New Zealand troops formed part of the Commonwealth Occupation forces.
"We went on scouting missions and performed guard duties, I spent my 21st birthday standing on guard duty.
"We went to Italy and Florence and then to Japan to oversee the repatriation of the prisoners of war."
While on guard duty in Taranto, Japan, Ike was reunited with his brother George.
"It was seven months after the atom bomb and I was on guard duty when a ship carrying New Zealand troops arrived.
"We weren't supposed to talk to them and as they filed past, one of them called me a silly bugger and said that my brother was with them."
On his return to Hastings, Ike worked for a time on the installation of the new power poles on the state highway before going to work for Dave Lupton on his farm at Omahina, Waverley.
Ike met his wife-to-be Pat Stewart while he was on a hunting trip and she was on her way to play basketball.
Although they "didn't click at first" they eventually married.
The couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in January.
They have two children, Barry and Margaret and four grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. Ike worked at the Patea Freezing Works from 1950 until it closed in 1982.
As a leading hand, he worked all year long and says he counts himself lucky to have had that opportunity.
After the works closed, he worked at the timber mill for a couple of years then became a volunteer worker doing road patrol at Waverley Primary school for 20 years.
"I used to walk to school with our grandson Matthew and we would watch the trucks because he loved trucks.
"Seeing as I was going there every day, I thought I might as well help out."
Despite having diabetes that has led to the amputation of part of his left leg and two of his right toes two years ago, Ike says he has no regrets and is looking forward to his 90th birthday in September.
