20 September, 2021
If you’re a Browns’ Bay local, chances are you would have seen John Dyer out and about. John loved his daily walks through the village and could often be seen in his garden, tending to his many beloved fruit trees.
His friend Trish Craven remembers him as a gentle man who was loved by all who knew him. “He loved his ballroom dancing and golf too,” she remembers. “And we all had a lot of time for him. We’d always invite him up for a cup of tea.”
In November 2019, John, a retired carpenter, died at the age of 85 and left a third of his estate to Harbour Hospice in his Will.
John and friend
We are incredibly grateful to John for his kindness. The impact of gifts in wills (no matter the size) on providing palliative care to patients and whānau cannot be underestimated. Without the generosity of people like John we simply wouldn’t be able to provide the level of care that we do for patients and their whānau.
The reasons behind legacy gifts can often be deeply personal and in John’s case, his was motivated by the death of his mother when he was a child. Trish explains, “John’s mother died from cancer when he was only 13. He’d always had a great love of his mother and her death impacted him deeply.”
John, who was the oldest of five siblings and never married or had children, made a promise to himself that when he died he would give all he had to charities that supported cancer patients and children.
“And he honoured that vow,” Trish says with a smile.
Leaving a gift in your Will creates a lasting legacy that has an insurmountable impact on patients and their families. If you’d like to chat with us about leaving a gift to Harbour Hospice, please contact Milly Whitefoot on 021 783 437 or Milly.Whitefoot@harbourhospice.org.nz
