Hundreds gather to farewell Craig Norgate
Packed service in Hawera for ex-Fonterra boss.
More than 400 friends, family and colleagues gathered at Hawera's St Joseph's Catholic Church this afternoon for Craig Norgate's funeral.
The 50-year-old founding chief executive of Fonterra died in the UK on July 7 after collapsing unexpectedly.
His coffin was draped in Chiefs and Taranaki Bulls rugby flags in a nod to his passion as a rugby fan and administrator.
The service included tributes by Geoff Norgate, Graham Stuart, Dallas Fisher, Michael Douglas and Alexandria Norgate.
Atendees included Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy and Whanganui MP Chester Borrows.
Mr Norgate ran New Zealand's biggest dairy company for two years and then teamed up with the McConnon family to form Rural Portfolio Investments, which acquired a controlling stake in rural services group Wrightson, merging it with Pyne Gould Guinness in 2005 to form PGG Wrightson.
He was instrumental in the creation of NZ Farming Systems Uruguay, which aimed to repeat Fonterra's success by developing dairy farms in South America using New Zealand farming techniques.
His grand vision faltered in 2008, when Wrightson was caught by the credit squeeze from the global financial crisis in 2008 and was unable to settle an unconditional offer to buy a half stake in Silver Fern Farms for $220 million.
Most recently he had responsibility for overseeing the merger of Chartered Accountants Australia with its New Zealand counterpart. He didn't front for the current lawsuit taken against the accounting body by rival CPA Australia.
NBR columnist Matthew Hooton – a former head of communications for Fonterra – worked with Mr Norgate on the dairy industry mega-merger and the first year of Fonterra.
“He was the brightest person you’ll ever meet – way, way off the chart, both in terms of being intellectually smart and also street-smart," Mr Hooton says.
Mr Norgate was also a director of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (2000-2002), on the Taranaki Rugby Football Union (2004 to 2013) and a director and investor in The Chiefs (2013 until his death).
He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Craig Norgate's casket is carried from St Joseph's Catholic Church in Hawera (Glenn Jeffrey for NBR)
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Hundreds gather to farewell Craig Norgate
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