INGLIS Ron
Ron Inglis was associated with King’s High School as a pupil, a teacher, and a coach for the first fifteen. He then became a successful farmer and business entrepreneur. He was a dedicated family man.
Ron attended King’s from 1955 to 1959. During this time, he played in the First Fifteen and gained a Rugby Blue in 1958 and 1959. He also earned a Rowing Blue in 1959. In 1959, he was promoted to the rank of Company Sergeant Major in the school’s Military Cadet Corps.
After leaving Kings, Ron played on the wing for the Southern Rugby Club for five years. He attended the University of Otago, graduating with an MA with honours in 1964. After completing his university work, he attended the Christchurch Teacher’s College, graduating with a Diploma in Teaching in 1965.
Ron met his wife Ann when she was a fifteen-year-old pupil at Queens High School. Ron had fond memories of King’s. He met Ann at the tuck shop whenever they could, then doubled her on his bike to the bottom of Jacobs Ladder on her walk home. They married in 1964 at the Andersons Bay Church. Ann taught Physical Education at Christchurch West School when Ron was at Christchurch Teacher’s College.
Ron’s first teaching position was at King’s High School in 1966. In 1967 and 1968, he was the teacher in charge of rowing. Then, in 1968, he became the First Rugby Fifteen Coach, a position he held for the next ten years.
Ron was promoted to Head of the Geography Department, a position he held from 1974 until 1979. He also served as King’s High School Branch Chairman of the PPTA for a time.
In all, Ron spent 15 years teaching at King’s.
In 1980, Ron was appointed Deputy Principal at Scots College in Wellington. After about five years, he left teaching and bought a farm in Pauatahanui, where he got the idea of farming alpacas and llamas. He gathered a group of investors and went to Chile with MAF vets to research the situation. They went to an area well above sea level near the top of Arica in Chile. This is where the alpacas and llamas live with the Indians. Ron opened a Company called Arpac, and brought a plane load of the animals back to Wellington. The plane was a big Russian one. They had to fly two Wellington Pilots over as it was too difficult for the Russians to fly such a heavy plane into Wellington Airport. Unfortunately, foot and mouth disease hit Chile, and the industry was almost killed. In the meantime, the Inglis farm was planted with pine trees, and a forest investment Group was born. This continued until the Transmission Gully Highway was built.
After this, Ron and Ann returned to Christchurch. Ron did several things, like starting Olive Groves on the property he had developed—Clarkville Property Development—and growing grapes on their 10-acre block. Thanks to Ann’s sister Dawn’s vineyard, Maude Wines in Wanaka, they made some delicious Riesling and Rosé.
Ron and Ann travelled extensively, both for their businesses and for pleasure. Most of their travel was based around Ann’s business, Seur Design, which was well known throughout New Zealand. Ron was always more than happy to tag along. Jodi, Ron’s eldest daughter, trained as a beauty therapist, but fashion was also her forte, and she was the leading fashion designer in the Soeur business.
Asia was their favourite destination, as they had one son living there and working in the golf industry, and another worked as an engineer for 11 years in Hong Kong.
When he was 80, Ron returned to university to study psychology with the eldest of his grandchildren.
Ron passed away on the 24th of October 2024.
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