A member of the Middleton family who farm Queenstown Hill, the 59-year-old senior police constable was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to the police and the community in the King’s Birthday Honours.
In the list she was principally under her married name, Fairhall, however she’s kept her maiden name over her police career.
That whole career, since 1992, has been on the West Coast, where she’s worked with victims of child abuse and family harm.
And as school community officer since ’02 she’s worked in drug education, with kids in and out of school, often on a voluntary basis, and led engagement with youngsters in the Gloriavale Christian Community.
It’s "impossible to count the lives Middleton has changed for the better, or quantify the harm prevented by her engagement with some of the most vulnerable people in our society," police commissioner Richard Chambers said when her honour was announced.
Despite her years on the Coast, where she and her husband raised three sons, Middleton still calls Queenstown home, and recently finished building a holiday house here.
Educated at Queenstown Primary and Wakatipu High, "it was mainly the sporting stuff I enjoyed".
She later played rugby league for the West Coast, while her younger siblings Stephen, Murray and Kelvin all played rugby — the latter representing the Highlanders.
She recalls undertaking "lots of chores"on the farm, including mustering sheep on horseback and hay-making.
Her first job after school was at the council, where she graduated from cashier to assistant financial controller, followed by two years’ OE.
Though she returned to council, "I thought I always wanted to be a cop — I wanted to make a difference and to help people — but I didn’t think I’d be able to".
Over a few drinks a friend talked to into applying, and she was accepted into Wellington’s "old school" police college.
During a three-week secondment with Queenstown police she recalls going with cops to the house of a deceased Arrowtowner that neighbours suspected had bombs and booby traps all through it. She squeezed in through a toilet window, "and ended up falling down and getting my foot stuck in the toilet".
Middleton’s undecided on living back in Queenstown when her career’s over.
"Not too sure ... I miss my home here, but, yeah, it’s lovely on the Coast too."
