Patrick Desmond Corbett - Obituary

Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 49, September 2005

PATRICK DESMOND CORBETT 1918 - 2004

REG. NO. 127903 21ST BATTALION 2 N.Z.E.F. - WORLD WAR II

Maureen McCollum

The death occurred on 20 June 2004, at the Thames Hospital of Patrick (Pat) Corbett, the last and youngest son of the late John and Johanna Corbett, of Corbett Road, in Hikutaia. He was aged eighty-five years. His funeral service, conducted by Father Brian Playfair, was held at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Paeroa, and the interment held at Omahu Cemetery.

Mr Corbett was born at the Corbett Road homestead in 1918 and spent his life at Hikutaia, with the exception of his service overseas during World War II. His schooling years were firstly at Hikutaia, then Thames Convent, and lastly, Thames High School. Travel to school at that time was by train, which ran right past the homestead.

On leaving school, Pat commenced his long working life on the family farm, breeding high grade Jersey herds, which were known throughout the area. He was able to continue milking, teddering hay, and winter feeding out, until he was forced by ill health to cease work, not long before his death.

Patrick Desmond Corbett 1918 – 2004

Mr Corbett's war service saw him in combat in Italy and Egypt, and a year after his return back to New Zealand in 1946, he married his wife, Sheila (nee Scanlan), on 15 February 1947. (Mrs Corbett passed away in December 2003. Her father, Tom, was a butcher in Hikutaia for many years.) They became parents to four children, Margaret (Mrs Newcombe), John, Peter (deceased) and David. David farms the Corbett Road property at this time.

Mr Corbett, like many of his family members, took a keen interest in the sport of racing, with a number of Corbett horses successful throughout the racing world. Indoor bowls was also a sport which Pat enjoyed at the Wharepoa Hall.

The death of Pat has brought the end of an era in the history of Hikutaia. He is survived by his remaining sister, Winifred (Thames), three children, twelve grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.