deaths

The Rev A. Harry Voyce In Auckland on December 28, aged 85.

Harry Voyce was for over 30 years a noted figure as a pioneer missionary in Bougain ville, army chaplain in the Paci fic War, and founder of church communities in the North Solo mons.

Harry was born in Hobart, Tasmania. When he was nine years old his family moved to New Zealand where he grew up in the central North Island. A strong, vigorous young man, he felt a call to the work of the mission field. Accepted for the Methodist ministry, he was trained at Dunholme College in Auckland.

On March 17, 1926, he married Miss Beryl Haliday, and the young couple left for service with the old Solomon Islands Methodist District. Harry was appointed to Bougainville and assigned to the inland Siwai area. Up till this time, most missionary work had been confined to the coastal regions of the island, though some Melanesian teachers were sta tioned inland.

When the Voyces reached their appointed place at Tonu they found they were isolated from the coast by many miles of bush tracks and turbulent riv ers. In the years that followed, Harry and Beryl Voyce ex plored much of inland Bougain ville on foot, contacting village people throughout the area.

Harry earned a name as a prodigious and swift walker the “great Hurry-Up” as the locals called him. Beryl was recognised for her compassion and concern for the women and children.

In 1936 they shifted to Buin on the coast and established Kihili, a mission station that was a botanist’s delight with an immense variety of plants particularly hibiscus and bana nas (33 varieties!).

When war came in 1942, the Voyces were on leave in New

Zealand. Harry was immediate

ly in demand from the Allied forces for information. He also joined the 3rd New Zealand

Division as chaplain. In this capacity he returned to the Solomons. On Vella Lavella he not only fulfilled his ministry to the troops, but also contacted the mission teachers and village leaders.

When war ended the church obtained permission for Harry to make a brief visit to Toroki na. That brief visit extended to four years before he took leave.

With his usual energy and quickness to see and seize opportunities, he helped to re establish links between the scat tered congregations of the church, and out of the chaos of wartime junk he acquired the material to rebuild the mission stations and get schools and hospitals functioning again.

Under his guidance and with the help of the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme, the work was ex tended into teacher, agricultural and mechanical training, and home science courses were started for girls.

He served on the district advisory council and helped the local Returned Services League branch.

He finally retired at the end of 1958 after 33 years remark able service. A keen observer of native customs and arts and crafts, and a noted stamp col lector, Harry Voyce provided the material for an issue of Papua New Guinea stamps on Bougainville art. It was issued on March 17, 1976 Beryl’s and Harry’s 50th wedding anniversary.

Essentially a modest, rather shy, person for all his rugged strength, Harry Voyce was al ways quicker to point to others’ achievements than to draw attention to his own. But he will be remembered with respect and affection by many people who lived in the North Solo mons Province missionaries, traders, government officers and most of all by the Siwai and Buin people. He is survived by his wife Beryl, four children, 14 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. George G.

Carter in Auckland.

Michael Ala On Ambae, Vanuatu, on Janu ary 4, aged 62.

Mr Ala was very prominent in local affairs on Ambae, serving as president of the local council for a total of 13 years. He was also prominent at a national level in Vanuatu, having for 12 years been a member of the Advisory Council established by the Condominium powers in the old New Hebrides. He remained on the council until it was abolished in 1975.

He was made an MBE in 1971.

Vanuatu’s Ministry of Home Affairs described his death as “a loss not only to the people of Ambae but to the whole of Vanuatu. ”

C. L. (Tony) Anthony In Sydney on December 11, aged 83.

Tony Anthony first went to New Guinea as a young sur veyor in the Lands Department at Rabaul in 1927. He travelled in the old S.S. Marsina, together with two other famous Territo rians, J.K. McCarthy and Home (now Sir Home) Niall.

Tony was one of the founder members of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and subse quently served throughout World War 11 in ANGAU.

He was substantially re sponsible for producing the town plan for Lae before the war when it was to become the administrative capital of New Guinea, the proposal being shelved with the arrival of the Japanese.

Tony was the brother-in-law of another old identity, the late Paul “Karkar“ Scmidt, who ori ginally planted Karkar Island before moving on to develop Palmalmal Plantation on Jac quinot Bay.

Tony is survived by his wife Mona, son Quentin, a former assistant district officer, and daughter Julienne (Mrs Clu nies-Ross). Quentin Anthony.

Stanley Wenty In a car accident on Guam on December 6, aged 27.

Stanley Wenty was a well known guitarist in Palau, where he played regularly at the Pele liu Club before he “hit it big“ and was picked up by a local producer to cut an album in the Philippines. The cassette tape Bela-Yukl, which came out in 1983, became a craze in Koror.

Wenty graduated at the Palau Mission School, then went on to Portland University Oregon.

But music was really his calling and he kept on with his guitar playing.

Late last November, he was playing in Guam for the vice presidential campaign of John Tarkong, the producer of the Bela-Yukl group. He stayed over in Agana playing in va rious places, until he met his fate.

A funeral service was held on Guam, and he was buried in Koror on December 12.

Captain Michael Sandell On Betio, Kiribati, on Decem ber 16, aged 45.

A Grade 1 marine officer at the Marine Training School of Kiribati, Captain Sandell was found dead in his bedroom at Betio on Monday morning, De cember 17.

Police had to break into the house to get to Mr Sandell because the room was locked.

“I was surprised to see the house locked when I reported for work that morning,” said housemaid Mariamine.

Neighbors said an alarm bell in the house was heard late on Sunday evening, but it had rung only for a short time.

A hand-written note was found on the floor in the bed room.

He was buried at the BTC’s cemetery. About 500 people, including top government offi cials, MTS students, officers and other Imatangs attended the funeral.

Captain Sandell, an Eng lishman, is well remembered in Kiribati for his bravery in sailing the training vessel Nitro from Mobile, USA, to Kiribati.

Tibwere Bobo in Te Uekera.