A soldier who drowned in Lake Moawhango near Waiouru has been laid to rest in a Far North cemetery.
Private Michael Victor Ross was farewelled yesterday at St Stephen's Church, Pamapuria, after a funeral at Te Paatu Marae.
He was farewelled as a much-loved grandson, son, brother, partner, a member of a large and loving whanau, and as a soldier. He died during an army exercise two weeks ago.
As six of his comrades from A Company carried him on their shoulders from the marae to State Highway 1 where a gun carriage waited to take him the few hundred metres to the church he was accorded one last passionate haka. His family, heads bowed, led the sombre procession.
Canon Dennis Urquhart of Kaitaia, who baptised Private Ross at St Stephens in May 1983, and who had a role in his confirmation at St Saviour's in Kaitaia, led the requiem holy communion with Chaplain Chris Purdie, one of a strong army contingent.
Private Ross' brother, Rodney Ross, read Psalm 71: 10-16, words that he said had real meaning for his brother, who had marked them in his own Bible.
Major Brad Taylor, Officer Commanding Alpha Company, said Private Ross had an easy-going personality and an outstanding work ethic. He had joined the army because he saw it as the heart of New Zealand's defence against "rebels and rascals", but plumbing was his first passion.
The young man who, as a teenager, had begun an apprenticeship at his uncle Jack Rogers' firm in Kaitaia, had always been on hand when the army's "dodgy plumbing" had needed attention.
Whether it was fixing leaking pipes or defending potential victims from rebels and rascals, Private Ross gave every task 100 percent, and served his country proudly, Major Taylor said.
"You have truly been a great soldier and a friend to all. Once a soldier, always a soldier," he concluded.
That was a view shared by his family. David Barrington Rogers describing his cousin as a humble, passionate and highly motivated man.
"The army gave him a pride of place, of purpose and of self. Your special ability to touch our hearts will be greatly missed."
