Community salutes beloved baker | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Breadmaker Bob Cockburn was remembered at Masterton Town Hall on Saturday as a great contributor to the Wairarapa economy and community.

Mr Cockburn, 67, was a former Breadcraft boss who developed the business begun by his father Harold into a national and international success. He died on August 12.

At a service led by former Masterton mayor Bob Francis, speakers told of a hard-working, fun-loving and unconventional businessman - who preferred white shorts to suits and bourbon and Coke to fine wine.

Through the company Mr Cockburn had supported school breakfasts and lunches, business development projects and many voluntary organisations.

Mr Cockburn's sister Annie Collins told how he had carried on the legacy of their father Harold, who learned to bake on a ship as he emigrated from Glasgow to New Zealand.

John Gould, of Quality Bakers, described Mr Cockburn as a practical man and key to the group's success. "Quality Bakers began as a co-operative and no one was more co-operative than Bob."

Like his father before him, Mr Cockburn was both a president and a life member of the New Zealand Bakers Association and respected by his peers.

Speakers told how Mr Cockburn's unconventional dress sense saw him denied entry to a business meeting he had been scheduled to lead, so he gave the man his business card with instructions to pass on his apologies.

Mr Cockburn also loved fishing, driving to the Wairarapa coast in a Lada or a Cadillac.