Springfield Golf Club: Rotorua woman amazed at her husband’s last resting place

A Rotorua widow whose husband’s ashes are scattered on the Springfield golf course has rekindled the debate on her future development, despite the fact that the board put plans on the ice earlier this year.

Danielle Maguire said the Rotorua Daily Post is not alone in its difficult situation – other families are also “upset” because they have sprayed ash on the field at the request of their loved ones.

The golf course was aware of the ritual, which had spiritual significance for those who had fulfilled their last wishes in the belief that the ashes “would be here forever”.

Danielle said that when David Maguire received the devastating news of his brain cancer diagnosis, he knew the three places he wanted his ashes to spread.

A beach in Noumea, his best friend’s garden and the first tee of the Springfield field, where he had played for almost 25 years and spent many peaceful days towards the end of his life.

Now his family is gathering to make sure that the plans proposed by the Rotorua Lakes Council to take back the land and restore the golf course are stopped.

In March, the Rotorua Lakes Council announced the proposal for a sports and recreation district and residential residential development in Westbrook.

Springfield golf course, Rotorua International Stadium, Westbrook Reserve and netball courts, Ray Boord Park and Smallbone Park would have been incorporated.

However, in May the council announced that plans for the district would be delayed until 2024 to be considered for the next long-term plan due to Covid-19.

The golf course had also been highlighted in the Council’s 2018 territorial plan as a potential growth area, particularly for housing.

Residents and members across the city joined in collective opposition to these plans.

A Facebook group called Saving Springfield Golf Course had already gathered around 650 members and two different petitions were sitting in a local dairy and the club itself.

“David would be absolutely furious … that club and his golf were his life,” said David Danielle Maguire’s wife.

He had fought hard with his cancer and died at the age of 48, leaving behind two daughters and his wife.

A ceremony took place at the Springfield Golf Club on a blue bird day in September 2014.

Going to the golf club even now has been extremely difficult for Danielle, but she said “she would do anything to save him.”

“I broke down in tears when I heard the plans … how dare they do it in the resting place for our loved ones.”

The couple met in Noumea in the 1980s and moved to Rotorua in 1990 when Danielle was pregnant with their first daughter.

He immediately joined the golf club, participating in tournaments and soon becoming club president.

“You would never have seen David without his golf bag,” said Danielle.

He also played an important role in the training of professional golfer Danny Lee, who had been a member of the club.

“I had so many golf lessons, every Mother’s Day I would have had a new lesson voucher. He had hoped we could play golf together when we retired,” he said.

“It wasn’t my cup of tea,” he said laughing.

He knew his time was running out when he went out on the pitch and could no longer hit the ball.

“It was absolutely devastating for him.”

David had wanted his ashes to be scattered on the field as it was his “place of peace”.

Maguire was not alone in her concern for the ashes of her loved one on the field.

He said he received messages from others who had spread the ashes of their loved ones there who were “upset” at the idea that the course was “destroyed”.

Rotorua Lakes Council Operations Director Jocelyn Mikaere said that while involvement and consultation were undertaken earlier this year, the district concept was still in the proposal phase and no final decisions had been taken. .

He said they were still studying and planning the concept and working with the sports community to ensure the development of a master plan that would better meet their needs.

This would put the plan in its best position to be considered for future long-term planning, he said.

Springfield Golf Club President Paul Fox said he knew of a number of people who scattered the ashes of their loved ones on the course.

“They spread them thinking that they will be there forever and their spirit stays there … it would be wrong to take it away from people.”

There were already hundreds of signatures of residents and members shocked at the petitions, he said.

Richard Fullard, director of the funeral of Osbornes, said that local beaches, pedestrian paths and golf courses were common places for the spread of ash.

“Families often choose a place that reflects their loved one’s life where they feel best … it’s a place they can visit for years to come.”

People who hope to scatter ashes in a certain place should do so under the recognition of the person who owns the land, he said.

“I really feel for those families involved in this.”

Te Arawa kaumātua Sir Toby Curtis said that he would expect cultural rituals such as the blessing of the site to be done when scattering ashes in public places and it would not be fair to build on earth without it being realized.

What are people with ashes doing in 2020?

Richard Fullard of Osbornes Funeral Director said that technology has continued to improve, the way people have scattered and preserved the ashes have changed.

The days of the standard wooden urn at the top of the cabinet were over. Nowadays, people would put ash in jewelry, teddy bears and other objects, and even send them to space.

“Families often choose to do something that suits the deceased better … it is becoming more personal.”

Making the ink ash and tattooing it on a person or turning it into diamonds were what Fullard had heard of but had not yet provided as a service himself, he said.

The ashes became more of a memory and new ways were helping the mourning process for many, he said.

On the other side of the coin, some families have chosen or simply forgot to collect the ashes of their loved one.

Osbornes still had more than a dozen ashes still at home, with the oldest dating back to the 90s.

“We keep them as a courtesy thing and follow the family fairly regularly. Sometimes it may be a case of not wanting to deal with him or a family member thinking that the other has picked them up.”

He said he received calls 10 years later from people asking if they still had a person’s ashes after realizing that perhaps their grandfather or grandmother had forgotten to take them.

“If even a close relative has passed, we keep them here just in case … all the ashes receive a good day from me every day as I pass.”

It is up to each family to do what they want to do, he said.

He had never heard of locals doing cremations on private land, although it was common abroad, he said.

Kathy Sleep of the Tauranga Hope family funeral services said she wanted to explore any ideas a family might have for their loved one’s ashes.

From teddy bears to necklaces and even scented candles, the way people could store ashes has changed dramatically over the years.

“We listen to what people want.”

She said that once a woman had arrived who had lost her husband and had slept with her ashes, but that by that weight she had taken a sore arm.

“I suggested putting the ashes in a stuffed animal, which she liked the idea of.”

She returned a week later saying that her husband would have had an “attack” if he had known it had been put into a toy, so he asked to have it put in a tube to disperse.

“Pain is so different for everyone … People have different ways of coming to terms with a death.”

On another occasion, they had scattered ashes through a series of small tubes to be “memories” for each member of the family, while another time the ashes of a woman were placed in separate teddy bears for her granddaughter and grandchildren.

He said they had also explored options for putting ashes under scented candles or turning them into paperweights.

“I always hear people say they didn’t think they could when it comes to ash.”