Members of the Te Awamutu Community Menz Shed are mourning the loss in April of two long-standing members of their organisation.
David ‘Taffy’ Francis, and Erick Saunders were Menz Shed members for some years.
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- Taffy Francis
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- Taffy Francis
Taffy Francis, was born into a coal-mining family in Wales in 1933, the youngest in a family of three. At the age of 15 he began work on a local dairy farm, then came to New Zealand in 1961.
He worked in Taranaki on dairy farms, married Maureen, a school teacher, and in 1965 the couple moved to Hinuera in the Waikato, then to Te Puke, before eventually settling on their own dairy farm at Arohena. However, health problems meant selling the farm and moving to Te Awamutu.
It was here that Taffy met Colin Hall, later to become founder of the Te Awamutu Community Menz Shed. Colin encouraged him to become involved in the local community, and Taffy later joined the Menz Shed. For the next nine years he was the ‘tea man’, always having tea and biscuits, a kind word and quick back-chat, ready at exactly 10am, smoko-time.
Richard Cato with two trophies made by Menzshed.
It wasn’t until some years on that it was established that Taffy had been regularly paying for purchase of the tea and biscuits himself. He was, says Te Awamutu Menz Shed chairman Richard Cato, “an amazing Sheddie, giving his all to the shed. And Taffy was always a Welshman – he carried his staunch Welsh accent all has life.” Taffy died on April 17, 2024, aged 91.
Erick Saunders was born in Frankton in 1937, the fifth in a family of six. At the age of 18 he began working on a farm at Ōtorohanga, and he later took up sharemilking in that district. He bought his first farm at Pukeatua in 1968, moving to a larger property at Arohena in 1978. By coincidence, his farm was not far from Taffy Francis’ property, and the two became good friends. Erick and his wife Amy weathered some tough times on the farm, with his practical skills being used to help supplement their income. Among other things he bred New Zealand white rabbits for their meat.
He was also greatly interested in wildlife and hunting, being a member of the New Zealand Acclimatisation Society, a skilled taxidermist, and long-time deerstalker and game-bird shooter. Erick and Amy had a family of four, and he became a popular and practical leader of Scouts and Guides in the Arohena district.
He retired from farming in 2002, when he and Amy moved into Te Awamutu. It was there Erick continued his hobby of woodturning, and in 2012 was one of the founding members of the Te Awamutu Community Menz Shed when it was established in Raeburn Road.
Menz Shed chairman Richard Cato says Erick was always ready and willing to help others, and had a very understanding ear for those who had problems or concerns.
“He was the unofficial welfare officer for our Menz Shed, and he was greatly respected for the many kindnesses he did for our members and others. He was a very skilful man, and could turn his hand to all sorts of practical things.”
Erick died on April 22, 2024, aged 87.
