Being married to Peter Lyall "PL" Anderson was something of a "rugby widow" lifestyle, his wife of 53 years, Jan Anderson, jokes.
The former Tarras sheep farmer and Wānaka local, who died last week, will be remembered as a Tarras and Clutha Rugby stalwart, a man of the land, a keen dog trialler and a family man.
Mr Anderson was born not far from his Tarras family farm in Cromwell in 1940.
He was schooled locally and then sent to Timaru Boys’ High School before returning back to Central Otago to become a shepherd, where he worked on several farms and stations.
He worked his way up to manage Criffel Station, where he met his eventual wife at the local teachers’ hostel.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, this was a house that homed "all the single women in town" right by the bowling green, Mrs Anderson said.
"When I came up in 1971 to teach, you knew everyone, and all the locals came around to the teachers’ hostel to check out the talent.
"He thought ‘oh well, she’ll do’."
"My first date with him, he rang up and said ‘hello, it’s Peter Anderson. Can I pick you up and we will go for a drink?’, and I thought ‘that’s pretty cool’."
She describes her husband as a generous man who was so community-focused that she found herself a little cross at times, when she came second to time constraints of farming, dog trials and rugby - especially rugby.
It was during his rugby coaching days that he gained the nickname PL, after he took to naming his players and mates by their initials. The favour was returned and the PL label stuck every since.
"I’ve never called him anything else, unless I am wild."
One of those times she recalls in an extract in the Clutha Rugby Club history book.
"He got really committed into country rugby and it become painful, he was always on the phone and always at meetings.
"I stood there with my hands on my hips and said ‘your obsession with rugby is sickening’."
Three weeks later, Mr Anderson pulled out of everything rugby.
"One of the worst things about PL being a rugby administrator was opening up the toll bill at the end of the month. In the end, I got PL a fax machine, but that didn’t work either because he’d send the fax and then ring up to see if it had gone through."
His commitment to rugby had him help form the amalgamation between the Tarras Rugby Club and Wānaka Rugby Club in the early 1970s - so much so, he was named president at the outset.
"A devoted Tarras man as there could be, he kept a level head throughout the debate. His love for rugby always rose above his personal feelings."
His time at the top of the club also saw the Clutha Rugby Club as one of the first nationally to let women into after-match functions in 1972.
Women were originally not allowed in the club and had to wait outside in freezing cold cars.
"I remember being a rugby wife sitting in the car."
Mr Anderson was recognised as the club patron in 1993 and held that role for 32 years.
Club president Gary Read paid tribute to Mr Anderson this week.
He said the patron, founding member, former coach and past president would be missed and remembered for his speeches, and the respect he gained from the younger and older members.
"PL’s dedication, leadership and passion for our club helped shape UCRFC into the community and family it is today. His legacy will continue to be felt across every grade, every field and every generation that wears our colours," Mr Read said.
"He was an amazing, positive man who did a lot for the community, especially for his beloved Upper Clutha RFC, Otago Country Rugby and dog trials," his son, Will Anderson, said.
"Dad was the most positive and stoic of men. He never complained despite having a number of ailments. He was a great community man and formed close friendships across generations and was loved by many."
This was backed up when only this week Mrs Anderson found letters written by some of the players, keeping in touch with their old coach.
"He touched right across the spectrum, really. Two or three boys who went on their overseas working holidays or to live, they wrote to him regularly, and he kept those letters.
"He was held in high esteem with the young and the old," Mrs Anderson said.
Dog trialling was also a big pastime for the sheep farmer. Having trained his own dogs, usually heading dogs, he worked as a chairman of the local club and even judged at the National Dog Trials.
Mr Anderson built his farming life from the ground up.
After marrying, the couple bought Mrs Anderson’s parents’ farm in Milton in 1975, to get on the farming map. After five years there, Cloudy Peak Station in Tarras was up for sale, and they stayed there for 24 years, bringing up their children, Will and Emily.
The 10,000ha farm runs 10,000 sheep.
"He was not a practical man mechanically, but he was a stockman through and through," Mrs Anderson said.
"He was a man of the land."
