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Remembered as a friend and an advocate for the people, Waitaki district councillor Jim Hopkins was farewelled this morning outside the council offices in Oamaru.
Also a well-known television personality and broadcaster, Cr Hopkins died on Monday morning.
The hearse paused outside the offices on its journey to Christchurch, as about 100 people gathered to pay their respects to the long-serving councillor.
Among them were Waitaki Mayor Mel Tavendale, fellow councillors, council staff, members of the public and former Waitaki mayors Alex Familton and Alan McClay.
Mrs Tavendale, who was visibly emotional in her farewell speech to her “colleague and friend”, said Cr Hopkins would “leave a gap that cannot be filled, but also a legacy that will never be forgotten”.
"Around the council table, he was unmistakably Jim, thoughtful, challenging, witty, deeply committed, and always guided by a fierce love for Waitaki and its people.
“He had the rare gift of lighting up the room, and an incredible ability to throw his voice to all corners.
“He brought humour, intellect, humanity, and heart into every room he entered.
“But more than that, Jim cared.
"He cared about fairness, about local government, about the underdog, about this district, and about the people who call it home.”
Mrs Tavendale said “we loved your voice, your chuckle, your courage, your brilliance, your mischief, and the enormous heart you brought to us all”.
"As you leave Oamaru today, we send you with our thanks, our respect, and our absolute love,” Mrs Tavendale said.
Mr McClay said “Jim will leave a gap that will be hard to replace in term’s of what he did for councillor’s accountability”.
"We didn’t always like it but he did have a real care for things, and he was a friend, he was genuine Jim,” Mr McClay said.
There were very few dry eyes as people lined up to lay rosemary on the coffin to farewell Mr Hopkins, before his final journey out of the Waitaki District and on to Christchurch.
Many Oamaru residents gathered to say goodbye to the well-known councillor including a nearby neighbour, Katie Albutt, who said “we loved Jim and we always loved seeing him.”
Les Quartermaine said it was “very emotional”.
"It’s a big loss in this town, I’ve known him a long time and he was a good friend,” Mr Quartermaine said.
Allan Prakash said Cr Hopkins was a “great friend” who would often speak at Lions Club events.
“He was fantastic, he had the gift of the gab, and he could speak about anything, he will really be missed,” he said.
Jim’s son David said his father’s death “came suddenly” but he was grateful to have spent the last weekend together.
‘I’m getting married in November and at no point in time did I think he wasn’t going to be there.
"We watched an appallingly bad Bruce Willis movie on Friday and we watched the rugby on Saturday and did a pub quiz on Sunday, so all things considered it was quite a fun-filled weekend,” he said.
David joked that he would have driven his council colleagues “balmy at times”, and remembered his father as “larger than life”.
"There will be lots of people who remember the time he squeezed an entire cricket team into his Fiat 500 Bambina and drove them to a game.
"He was a fantastic dad and he loved the life he created in Waitaki and to spend the best part there of the last 20 years.
"He loved his speech, he absolutely loved being a councillor, he was a dyed in the wool do-gooder I suppose and he carried on a family tradition of trying to make things better,” he said.
Jim’s children, Cass, Tom and David, and family, will attend his funeral in Addington, Christchurch at St Mary’s Church next Monday at 11am.
“It will be a small gathering and we will have a private family burial at 2pm,” David said.
Jim Hopkins will be interred with his mother and father in Bromley Cemetery in Christchurch.