Geoffrey Rodliffe Obituary

RODLIFFE, Geoffrey. Passed away peacefully at Hillsborough Hospital on 5 June 2011, aged 96. Loved husband of the late Betty. Loved father of Chris and Barrie and father-in-law of Pira and Carol. Loved Grandad of Tamou, Michael and Janet. A service to remember Geoff's life will be held at All Saints Chapel, Purewa Crematorium, 102 St Johns Road, Meadowbank at 10.30am Thursday 9 June.



Published by The New Zealand Herald on Jun. 7, 2011.

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Memories and Condolences
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4 Entries

The Pearse family of South Canterbury extend our sympathy to the Rodliffe family with the passing of Geoff.
It is with the utmost appreciation we acknowledge Geoff's efforts and dedication in researching and advancing the story of Richard Pearse.
He was a lovely person, we will miss him greatly

jeffrey pearse

June 12, 2011

We were very saddened to hear of Geoff's passing on Sunday.

Geoff was a lovely man, a true gentleman who also had a great passion.

We visited him in Auckland a while back and he was extremely welcoming to us and our young children Ralph and Stella. My husband Thomas thoroughly enjoyed working with him when he did his best to follow his progress building the Pearse plane. Unfortunately we were unable to raise the finance to film a complete documentary about him, a documentary which would have simply been a wonderful story.

We have no doubt there are people who have worked with Geoff over the years who will do all they can to fulfill his dream.

Thank you Geoff for sharing some of your time with us. We will not forget you.

Thomas, Susan, Stella and Ralph Robins.

Susan Hannagan

June 10, 2011

It is with great sadness we in Nottingham have received the news of Geoffery's passing. He was a great help to me when I published my book, Who was Richard William Pearse in 2007.
Our thoughts go out to his many friends and most of all his family, Geoffery gave to the world his vast expertise about Richard Pearse and in his books showed the facts in a an easy to read style which children in our local school are using this term as they study the history of flight.
Geffery will be sadly missed but his legacy is assured to live on with those of us who will carry on his work in the subject of New Zealand aviation history.
Rest in peace you are remembered here in Nottingham.
Dave Moore and family

June 9, 2011

Whilst Geoff will always be remembered for his outstanding research into the achievements of aviation pioneer Richard Pearse, he had other interests and adventures in his life whilst I knew him from the 1970s onwards.

He was involved with the Auckland English Traditional Dance Club and the City of Auckland Morris Dancers in the 1970s. Both Barrie and Carol Rodliffe were founder members of these dance groups. Frequently at performances Geoff was in charge of the sound equipment. Well actually this latter was more like a hi-tech cassette tape recorder, and involved swapping, cueing up, starting and stopping the various cassettes in a somewhat complicated programme. Without his expertise in this we would not have had music to perform to!!

And Geoff's hospitality was immense. He opened his home at Kohimarama to me for my frequent visits back to NZ after I had returned home to the UK in 1980. Then he always insisted on meeting me at the Airport or driving me there to depart.

But it was his inquiring mind that was one of Geoff's greatest assets. He wanted to know why and how things worked. This was ideal for researching into Richard Pearse's inventions. And with his innate enthusiasm for all things aviation he introduced me not only to pioneers such as Pearse but also to think about working for an airline when I returned to the UK.

And in later years his enthusiasm for things technical extended to using laptop computers and even at the age of 90 plus to keeping in regular contact with his relatives and friends overseas via Skype.

And Geoff traveled a lot even in his senior years.

I remember that he visited me at Heathrow sometime in the 1980s. There we managed to visit the Engineering Hangers at BA, and in inimitable fashion we got on board a Concorde. This was being refurbished and there was some offcuts of the new carpeting lying around. This was grey with a 'go faster' red stripe down the middle. We asked the fitter who was showing us around if we could have the off-cuts and we were given some. I know that Geoff was very pleased with this unexpected 'souvenir' from BA.

Then there was the adventure of the Pearse replica 'Flyer' to Shuttleworth in 2003. It had been shipped over to London by Air New Zealand, but was stuck in customs at Heathrow. An afternoon of phone calls to and from ANZ - when I should have been compiling financial reports - released the crate and was then driven up to Shuttleworth that evening. I understand that Geoff and his colleagues were up all that night to build the exhibit ready for the opening day. The exhibit met with great acclaim, and Geoff was really pleased to talk to visiting aviation enthusiasts especially the engineers - like himself - about the Pearse engines.

On that same trip to the UK, we had booked tickets on the Waverly paddle steamer from Southend up the Thames to Tower Bridge. But when we arrived the boat was grossly over-booked. However with Geoff there was no going back by train. We argued our way on board - by-passing a queue of hundreds - and Geoff was given a prime seat at the front of the boat. Later in the week he also took a 'flight' on the London Eye. Yet more highlights for him.

And so for me Geoff will always be remembered for his sense of fun, his enthusiasm for early flight, his enjoyment of all things technical, his hospitality, and his many publications about Richard Pearse (which he would not let me pay for).

Thank you Geoff.

Chris Brady

June 9, 2011

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