"Heaven just got a whole lot louder."
Tara McHardy (nee Hickey) was referring to her father, Brent Hickey, the gregarious Central Otago wool buyer who died on May 2, aged 67.
Those attending his memorial service at the Alexandra Bowling Club were urged to take their phones off silent and, if they did receive a call, to answer it, put their phone on speaker and speak as loud as possible, out of respect for him.
There was a common theme throughout the service; he was a man with a big personality, a joker and prankster, but also a loyal and loving family man and a successful businessman.
Born in Clyde on November 8, 1957, Mr Hickey — known as "Nearly Honest Brent" — was the third of the late Bill (Honest Bill) and Pat Hickey’s four children.
Bill Hickey started the wool business WS Hickey Ltd in 1956, initially running the sheepskin and dag crushing operation out of an old garage in Ophir.
The business moved to its current site in Leask St, Omakau, in 1966 and Brent Hickey took over the business in 1981, at which time it became WS Hickey & Son Ltd.
During his tenure, the business underwent considerable expansion, and it is one of the more long-standing private wool businesses operating in New Zealand.
Son Hayden, who is now at the helm of WS Hickey & Son, spent his school holidays working with his father.
It was a great opportunity to get to know what his father did and what motivated him to get out of bed so early. Often he would be picked up by a co-worker as his father would be "long gone".
Father and son would drive around the countryside, catching up with farmers and having a yarn and a laugh.
"He so genuinely enjoyed the company of people and many have since become some of his best friends," Hayden said.
When chatting to farmers, he would never let the details or facts get in the way of a great story. Some days, his son would watch a story repeatedly told and gradually morph into a vastly different iteration from when they started at the beginning of the day — each story grander than its colourful predecessor.
"He fed off the excitement of an audience and he just never failed to please."
In 2011, Mr Hickey told the Otago Daily Times the most enjoyable part of his job had been the contact with clients and the "great smokos" he had enjoyed in farm houses. He had been known to have three cups of tea in one morning, he confided.
Tara, who described her father as bold, fun-loving, generous and with a big heart, said the family would often joke that a camera following him all day would "make for a pretty entertaining reality TV show".
While Nearly Honest Brent might appear a harsh moniker, it was more innocent than it appeared. Bill Hickey named himself Honest Bill, the farmer’s friend.
When Brent entered the business, the question was asked as to what he should be called. "Nearly Honest," Bill proclaimed, and the name stuck.
Getting the keys to the business in his early 20s, Brent quickly became as good as his father and possibly better, Hayden said.
"If Brent hadn’t carved his own niche for the business, we would be long gone."
He took risks and reinvested in the business. He was not afraid to push boundaries "and work on the details later".
He built sheds and bought forklifts and, in 2004, imported a core sampling machine which was still the most important machine in the business.
It was in the early days of email and a large mill was closing down in South Africa and had some plant for sale. The machine was advertised by email to the New Zealand wool trade.
"In typical Brent fashion, he did a minute amount of research on the gear and replied to the email with no grammar, and marginal spelling — ‘I’ll take one, thanks Brent’."
"It was a huge investment and risk to him at the time," Hayden said.
Expansion of the wool store was a source of pride for Brent, and his daily routine involved checking Google Earth to see if it had been updated to include the larger footprint.
As Hayden got involved in the business — he moved back to Central Otago in 2013 — his father let him learn and make mistakes in his own time.
"It worked and, as I gradually transitioned to making more decisions, this process couldn’t have made me feel more comfortable. We never had an argument over a business decision."
"His best advice to me [was] if you ever lose a client, don’t take it personally. Treat them well and, if they can use a calculator, they’ll be back."
Brent’s wife of 45 years, Steph, recalled how her husband was "so excited" when Hayden decided to come home to the family business.
"Brent just loved his wool business and worked so hard to give us the great life we have had. He spoilt us so much," she said.
The couple married in December 1979 after a short engagement, buying their first home a month before the wedding. Brent became a very proud father in 1981 when Hayden arrived, and again in 1985 when Tara was born.
That day, as Mrs Hickey was showing signs of labour, her husband offered to cook lunch.
"Saveloys. Lucky me. Brent doesn’t cook and I don’t eat saveloys," she said.
The Hickey offspring enjoyed an "idyllic childhood". There were many nights when one or the other parent was at a meeting, whether that was for the school board or trustees or Parent Teacher Association, squash, tennis or cricket clubs, the Omakau Domain Board, the Central Otago A & P Association, the local racing club — "the list just goes on", Hayden said.
Predominantly, they were community-minded organisations that the community benefited from both then and now.
At times, Mr Hickey was his son’s cricket coach and rugby coach — "and always there for us when needed".
Brent was "rapt" when he was made a life member of the Central Otago A & P Association for long service.
As children, Hayden and Tara were allowed to grow and make mistakes — "Brent would let us work it out for ourselves" — and Hayden always felt he could carve his own path.
At 12, Hayden decided St Kevin’s College in Oamaru would be his "home away from home", and his father imparted the advice that the Readers Digest was the most important book to have at secondary school.
Thinking that was "pretty strange for a guy who almost never read", he was told it fitted neatly into the back of a pair of pants to provide protection from the cane.
While Brent himself was a student at St Kevin’s for not quite four years, he made some strong friendships there and was excited about an upcoming 50-year reunion of the school’s 1st XV rugby team.
The days following Mr Hickey’s death reinforced how many people he interacted with and made an impact on during his 67 years, Hayden said.
Even the funeral director said Mr Hickey would call in for a chat and borrow a park when he found it hard to find one in Alexandra. She had initially thought he was the mayor [former mayor Tim Cadogan], something which caused him much amusement.
His semi-retirement included regular visits to Mt Campbell Station — "where he held the role of general manager, according to him" — and his role at the wool store remained extremely important to the business.
He loved getting into woolsheds at shearing time and the conversations he had with farmers, shearers and woolhandlers.
"The jobs he loved the most remained his as long as he wanted it," Hayden said.
Two days before the memorial service, Hayden and his son Will — one of Brent’s three adored grandchildren — took their father and grandfather for one last drive, re-creating his daily routine and visiting locations special to him, before taking him to the woolstore to spend a few hours with his mates.
Longtime friend Paul Denton, who lives in Toronto, was born five days before Mr Hickey at Clyde Hospital. Growing up in Omakau, Mr Denton always gravitated to the Hickey home where there was a colour television "and the goodies always seemed to flow".
Their childhood was punctuated with sport, adventures and hi-jinks and, even though they later went on different paths, they stayed connected.
Mr Denton described his friend as a force of nature, larger than life and loyal to a fault. Gregarious and generous, he was at times a maverick but not a rebel, a straight talker and mischievous prankster.
"The bottom line was he was a good man with a big heart."
It was appropriate Mr Hickey’s farewell was held at the Alexandra Bowling Club, one of his favourite places, and drew a very large crowd, something he would have also approved of.
Mr Hickey is survived by his wife Steph, son Hayden, daughter Tara and their families. — Sally Rae
