Remembering Bolger
OPINION: Is it now time for the country's top agricultural university to start thinking about a name change - something that has been mooted in the past?
The church was packed for the requiem mass and more than 1600 others watched the service by live video link.
Speakers at the funeral included the Governor General, Dame Cindy Kiro who said the passing of Jim Bolger marked the passing of an era from the time when a young farmer who left school in a remote community and a modest background and no political ambitions who rose steadily through the ranks to become Prime Minister.
She says he was a great man with a sense of social justice – something that could be attributed to his Irish Catholic background.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also described Jim Bolger as a great man, the son of County Wexford where his parents came from and also County Taranaki where he was born.
The funeral had a strong Maori component to it recognising Jim Bolgers bold move to get the treaty settlement process underway.
Tuku Morgan representing Tainui noted that Jim Bolger was a man of the land and a leader who changed the face of NZ forever.
He said Jim Bolger will be remembered as a person who had a rare ability to balance pragmatism with principle and to see the long game where others only saw the politics of the day.
Tuku Morgan said Jim Bolger understood that leadership was not about personal power but it was about purpose.
Two of his sons, Dan and Matt and daughter Bernadette spoke about his family life and his love and knowledge of farming which remained with him through and after politics.
A haka was performed by local school children as Jim Bolgers coffin was taken from the church while a lone individual sang the famous Irish song – Danny Boy.
