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Alan McQuarters web555Alan receiving his QSM from the then Governor-General, Jerry Matepare. Photo supplied.Alan McQuarters was one of life’s quiet achievers, a man who would far rather do the doing than collect the accolades.

He died earlier this month at the age of 91 and left a legacy that stretches across the worlds of music, theatre, Fire and Emergency NZ and Ashburton’s retail scene.

Alan was truly a son of Ashburton.

He was born in the old Malvern Maternity Hospital on Peter Street, went to Hampstead School and Ashburton Tech and spent his working life in Ashburton’s retail businesses. He was a stalwart of the Ashburton Silver Band, Ashburton Fire Brigade, the Ashburton Operatic Society (now Variety Theatre) and was a key member of the small team of locals who fought to build the Ashburton Trust Event Centre.

His life story is one of giving to his community, participating in community events and activities and working for community causes.

His life story is of a man who was happy to be the person on the ground, hands on the tools, but never the boss.

His love of music and the fire service started during his primary school years.

Brass band music appealed to Alan even as a young boy.

Mum Ida and dad Joe were happy to foster that love, with his mother having his own miniature band uniform made.

And when the band played or marched, Alan trotted alongside in his uniform.

But just being there wasn’t enough.

As a primary school boy, Alan joined the band, starting out on the cornet and later moving to the tenor horn before finally settling on the trombone.

His gift of a great ear for music meant his was the instrument used to tune the rest of the band.

During the war years in his early teens and with many of the town’s older musicians away serving their country, schoolboy Alan was sitting in with a local dance band and that started a lifetime of dance band work with Ray Daybourne, Chloe Gordon, Taylors Band and several others.

If music was his passion, it was to have a rival, the fire brigade.

And his association with the local volunteers began early, during his days at Hampstead School.

When manpower was in short supply during the war years, the brigade wanted two young lads to act as runners between fires and base during an emergency.

Alan volunteered and became the envy of his mates.

They would bike to the station when the fire siren sounded, help load up fire wagons, throw their bikes on board and head for the Allenton fire base where the two boys would act as runners between the two stations.

In 1954 Alan decided to turn his hobby into a commitment and joined the Ashburton Fire Brigade.

That posed one large problem, however.

Band practice was the same night as fire practice.

The fire service won and he signed on for what was to be a 25-year stint as a volunteer.

In 1979 Alan called time on fire service and retired with his gold star.

A few years later he was tempted back, this time as station keeper to fill in for a couple of months, but it was a position he held for 23 years, finally signing off at the age of 83 after giving 47-and-a-half years’ service.

His working life was spent in retail and his first job was with Heffords, a drapery and general store sited where today’s Heartland Bank is based.

He had been lining up at the store door for some time while he was still at school, hoping a job would come up.

His areas of expertise became ticket writing and displays.

Those skills caught the attention of South Island chain store Hays when they decided to set up a store in Ashburton.

They were determined to bring Alan on to their staff.

He was a loyal man and reluctant to leave Heffords, but was eventually persuaded and in 1954 he became part of the Hays team as display manager, later becoming assistant manager and then, very reluctantly, manager.

Taking the top job did not sit easily with Alan, who preferred to roll up his sleeves and get the job done rather than being the person running the show.

He held that position from 1967 until 1989 when he retired.

Even as manager he continued fully in his former role, always up ladders, hanging signs, dressing windows, making showcards – whatever it took to make the place hum and look good.

He was a stickler for good presentation and he was a legend within the company who often used the Ashburton store as a benchmark.

During those years he was with the company as it moved from Hays, to Haywrights, when it merged with Wright Stephensons, through its merger with the Farmers Trading Company and a name change to FTC Farmers and later to simply Farmers.

He stayed the distance and effectively became the last man standing, having turned down out-of-town promotions to run stores elsewhere.

Although he had a full working life and unfailing commitment to the fire service, Alan never lost his passion for music, continuing to play in bands.

He also became involved in the Ashburton Operatic Society as one of its founding members.

He was part of the orchestra for its first show in 1961, The Boyfriend, and became the orchestra convener, assembling the line-up of musicians required for many shows.

He and his trombone continued to be part of the orchestra until he was 90.

At the age of 89 he became what is now Variety Theatre’s patron.

Alan was one of the small group of enthusiasts who dreamed of a performing arts centre in Ashburton.

From as early as the 1960s he would tell his family that what Ashburton needed was a decent theatre, with a fly tower and orchestra pit.

He was part of the team that raised funds to buy the Regent Theatre and part of the team that drove the development of today’s Ashburton Trust Event Centre.

He was there to celebrate the centre’s 10th anniversary two years ago, a dream fulfilled and a very proud moment.

He also found time to devote 73 years’ service to the Ashburton Savage Club, an organisation he joined as a 17-year-old and was a founding member of Ashburton Plains Rotary.

His wall is proudly filled with community awards presented by the Ashburton District Council, Rotary and Lions.

He was made a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary in 2009 in appreciation for making a tangible and significant difference in his community.

In recent years he was made patron of the Ashburton Fire Museum.

He was not a man to spend time relaxing and the closest he came to that was when he bought an old building and had it moved to a site at the Rangitata Huts where he spent many happy years with his family pottering around the bach and turning it into a second home.

As a man who wanted nothing more than to pitch in and be part of a team, Alan was humbled to receive a Queen’s Service Medal in 2012 recognising his long service to the community he loved.

His love of music was lifelong and he continued to play as part of the MSA orchestra until just two months before his death.

Alan was truly a son of Ashburton, an unassuming man who preferred to get on and get things done rather than talk about it.

He was a man with a fine sense of humour who liked to do things his own way. He remained fiercely independent until his death on April 8, 2020.

Alan is survived by his children Peter, Tony and Nicola and his four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

By Sue Newman © The Ashburton Guardian - 18 April 2020