On November 25th one of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty IOQNZ members passed away after a long battle with cancer.
Ken Thorpe (known affectionately as Whizz) studied geology at Otago University, and spent many years at Huntly East Mine. He became interested in mine safety, and was a trainer with ACT Safety.
Ken was a wealth of knowledge in the training arena, well-liked by his peers and students who he worked tirelessly to assist them gaining qualifications. His speciality was in geology and welcomed the odd stone, rock or fossil which the trainees brought along, he would then have great joy in telling the history of the article. The trainer’s car was well on its springs to start with but Ken always brought extra “baggage” of rocks to add to his collection. Ken was a great guy.
Ken returned to Huntly West Mine. He attended the IOQ branch meetings whenever he could. We will miss him.
We extend our sympathies to Viv and his family.