Tom Jamieson

SUE WARDS

Every community has at least one member who lives on the fringe. Thomas (Tom) Jamieson - a familiar sight to locals as he wobbled between Hawea and Wanaka on his bike - was one of those people.

On the hot, windy day Tom died (when his hut was destroyed by fire on January 23), everyone knew who he was, but few people actually knew him. Apart from the many times I passed Tom (who was dubbed ‘Major Tom’ by some locals) teetering along SH6 on his bike, the only interaction I had with him was late last year. Walking along the roadside, I watched Tom cycling towards me, leaning precariously to one side. "Morning,” I said as he drew near. "Precious little good about it!” he snarled, and continued on his way.

That was characteristic of Tom, one of his friends told the Wanaka App.

Tom used to live at the Lake Hawea Motor Camp, which Michele Cotter and her family ran, about 20 years ago. "When Tom first came to the camp, our kids were little, and when they saw Tom, they would all wave from the car,” Michele said. "One day he came to the door to say, ‘There is to be no more waving. I want to be incognito.’”

"Tom chose to live how he did. He just wanted to be let be,” she said. He was a "suffering soul”, Michele said, who had endured some bad treatment in his early years.

Tom was a Scotsman who came to New Zealand as a "ten pound Pom” (one of 76,000 British citizens who migrated here after the Second World War. The migrants only had to pay £10 to migrate and the government paid the rest). He had been in the British Army and served in Northern Ireland and the Emirates. After moving to New Zealand he worked on orchards in Cromwell before locating to Hawea, where he loved to chop down trees and cut up firewood - which he supplied to a select group of people.

Tom lived at the motor camp for about nine years, and had been settled in his hut (which was a converted house truck) just off Domain Road for about 12 years. The small group of people who watched over him included his good friend Don Meyer, the Cotters, and his neighbours Peter and Dawn Ward.

Tom always wore boiler suits. He had a box on the back of his bike and he would ride to Wanaka three or four times a week for exercise, groceries, books, and a gas bottle, strapping items on with a bungy.

Tom would take morning tea to the ladies at the bank, go into the Sally’s, and visit the library. He enjoyed his life, Michele believed.

"Tom was a tremendous reader. He also was very sold on TV evangelist Benny Hinn. He had a strong faith, and a mean sense of humour. He kept abreast with current affairs, and knew more about Parliament than Parliament.”

"He had a head for dates and would always acknowledge birthdays - mine, my mother’s, and mother in law’s,” she said.

Tom was also very kind, Michele said. "He had nothing, but what he had he would share. We could never give without receiving back. Be it half a jar of jam, and a bit of fruit cake left in the letterbox, after we had taken him a meal, or something. He was never beholden to anyone.”

"Tom was a person who liked to remain on the fringe,” Michele said. "Unless he was a little (or a lot) tipsy. He would then take a wobbly bike trip, that always ended badly.”

Things had recently started to slide for the 75-year-old, with health problems making his regular bike rides difficult.

Peter Ward had visited with Tom just before he died, and told the Wanaka App Tom had mentioned this might be his last summer in this place. He was considering moving into a cared facility. He was quite nostalgic about the thought of moving on, Peter said.

Tom liked his dealings with others to be on his terms, and it’s unlikely he would have wanted a story written about him. But, far from being incognito, he was a well-recognised part of our landscape, and many people wanted to know more about his life.

"Tom has been through harsh winters and searing summers. He has had so little,” Michele said. "What if we all just looked after one person who lived on the fringe? What a difference we’d make.”

Tom’s friends are planning a memorial service for him soon, after his remains have been returned to them. Rest in peace, Thomas Jamieson.

PHOTO: Angelo Georgalli/Facebook