Instead of celebrating with him in person, his wife and children visited his grave to show him the newly granted building consents for the Southland Charity Hospital.
The Southland based cancer-care advocate died of bowel cancer in October 2019.
His wife and hospital board member Melissa showed their children, Della-May and Lilly, around the gutted hospital building for the first time yesterday.
Previously the Clifton Club Inn, the building is undergoing a transformation.
Mrs Vining was excited to see what would be the community room being transformed into something special.
It would open up on to the Blair Vining memorial garden.
The build was expected to be completed by April next year and would provide healthcare, by referral, to those in Southland and Otago who were unable to access treatment through either the private or public systems.
