John Douglas Tenquist MNZM 5 May 1934–8 February 2014

Abstract

John Tenquist died three days before his 53rd wedding anniversary after a short illness brought on by aggressive tumours on his liver. John had not been completely well following an earlier operation, which may have been a consequence of the numerous squamous cell carcinomas he had endured over most of his time living in New Zealand. It was most unfortunate too that John’s quality of life declined sharply in the six months leading up to his death. John was born in London on 5 May 1934, and spent some time in Egypt and Malta as a small child during the Second World War, as his father was moved around in his reservist naval officer role. John and his mother eventually moved back to London and then onto Ireland to avoid the bombing. After the war, John and his mother returned to England and, by the time he was 11 years old, John had been to nine schools. At his last school he gained some farming experience, and after he left school he had a variety of farming-related jobs, which led him, at age 17, to apply for (and get) a job taking charge of livestock being shipped to New Zealand. Later, John took a position on a farm in Feilding, New Zealand, where he stayed for two years. In 1954 he obtained a Diploma in Agriculture from Massey University (then Massey Agricultural College) while acting as a herd tester around Pahiatua. John moved