Julian DALEFIELD Obituary

I met Julian in 1965 when when were both in the same barrack room doing National Service at Waiouru. Julian went on to be part-time soldier at Linton. National Service was Julian's first time away from a rather repressive home life where he worked long hours milking many cows in an old back out cowshed. Julian's father Merv gave me a weekend end job milking and chipping thistles. After he died, Julian employed a share milker and upgraded the farm. It was recently milking over 500 cows.
I lost touch with Julian when I moved to Australia but I got a phone call from him from Sydney around 1997. He had escaped from a bad experience with NZ's mental health system and had seen me on TV on a news program about a drought in PNG. He came to stay with me in Canberra and I have stayed in touch with him at Gillespies Line from where he managed the farm. We talked on the phone regularly.
I last saw him at his home in 2021 and was concerned then about his health. So I feared the worst when I could not contact him early this year. He was a very intelligent man, kindly and caring, who overcame many personal challenges in his life to become a very successful farmer.
Best wishes to Bryony. I am a LRB reader!

I enjoyed my discussions with Julian when he came to stay with us in Wales after a serious heart operation. He was a man of many interests - these came to the fore during our conversations. He was interested in my art practice and its subject matter and he found ways to approach it through the perspective of his own concerns and imperatives. He was a quiet, deep-thinking man and I remember him fondly.

Julian was my big brother, and a kindly one. I last saw him when he came to Wales. He had a heart operation here and it gave him another fifteen years of life. He donated a large screen TV to the hospital ward he was treated in, wanting to improve the time of his fellow patients. As he recuperated he took a keen interest in the people and countryside here as was his custom.

I shall keep wake for him in the small hours here on the other side of the world at the time of his funeral.

In Loving Memory of Julian Dalefield

A gentle soul, so kind, so true,
With honest heart and thoughtful view.
A mind so deep, a spirit bright,
He shared his wisdom, gave us light.

Through quiet strength and words so wise,
He saw the world with knowing eyes.
No judgment cast, no kindness spared,
A life well-lived, a love well-shared.

Though now he's gone, his warmth remains,
In echoes soft, in love sustained.
We´ll hold his memory, pure and bright,
A guiding star in endless night.

Rest in peace, dear Julian.

Julian's dedication to the search and rescue the man they relied on to get the job done,he enjoyed getting back to nature in his camper,enjoyed listening to Julian's stories of his varied life.honest and steadfast man.

A considerate man who was always kind and thoughtful to me. Cared deeply for the wellbeing of the environment.

Julian came from a very supportive family who will miss his ready smile and kind ways he loved animals I remember he adopted a couple of dogs from the local SPCA that nobody wanted as one had a missing eye and the other three legs. He was my first cousin however I never met him till about 1980 when we went to Palmerston North to live and became friends with the branches of my family that lived there. He will be sadly missed by his friends and family.