OBITUARY
ROWAN GARRETT 1936 – 2025
When Rowan Garrett took his final bow, it marked the end of an era for the Kerepēhi Brass Band.
It began in 1946 when Rowan was just 10 years old and his piano teacher, Mr Vivian, invited him to join a new brass band.
Rowan picked up the cornet, before finding his way to the E flat bass.
He never left.
When he died on August 26, 89-year-old Rowan was just a few months shy of 80 years’ service with the band.
“Rowan was more than a musician; he was the beating heart of the Kerepēhi Brass Band,” reads a tribute on the band’s website. And current president Luke van Vliet agrees.
“He was a role model for a lot of people in the way he lived his life and how he conducted himself,” Luke said.
“He lived right there [behind the band hall]… he would always walk over here to practice every day.
“Brass bands are very community-based, it really becomes your family. And that’s what it was for Rowan, you know? Pretty much all of his kids were in the band at some point.”
Over the years, the brass band came to mean everything to Rowan – he played at thousands of different events, held almost every office – including 40 years as band president, and was honoured as a life member.
“He only ever missed two Anzac Days in his entire 79 years in the band,” Luke said.
“Anzac Day this year, he was so gutted when he couldn’t be there, because that’s what he was working towards after he broke his femur.
“Every time I was on the phone to him, he was talking about how he was going to be at band practice within three weeks, and he was working hard, and he’s been studying the music, and he was always optimistic.”
Through the years, Rowan’s dedication was also recognised outside the band. He was made a life member of the Waikato Bay of Plenty Brass Band Association, received a Hauraki District Citizens award in 2004, and in 2021 he was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for his services to brass bands.
Perhaps his favourite accolade though, was an in-depth interview with TVNZ’s Seven Sharp in 2021.
“That was probably one of the big highlights in his banding career. He never stopped talking about it,” Luke said.
Fittingly, Rowan’s final public performance with the band was also filmed by Seven Sharp, when the TV crew accompanied the band to their Christmas performance in the hills and tunnels of Karangahake Gorge last year.
Even after Rowan’s health began to decline, music, and the band, were still foremost in his mind. Fellow band member Heather O’Hagan recalled visiting him just days before his death, to find him preparing to fit some music practice into his day.
“He was a regular attendee [of the senior social band] up until the end of last year,” she said in her eulogy.
“And he was delighted to play with them when they visited [Ohinemuri Home] in June.”
Rowan’s legacy was one of music, friendship, and community spirit, the band said.
“[He] will live on in every note we play.”
