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WARWICK SMITH / Things
A cross stands between a monument to Owen Charles Wildbore-Brumby, who was found dead in Te Marae or Hine / The Square.
Smiles have been broken and tears have been shed as friends and family mourn the loss of a well-known figure from Palmerston North.
Owen Charles Wildbore-Brumby, 40, was found dead in the bushes at Te Marae or Hine / The Square, by the duck pond near the Palmerston North council building, at noon Tuesday.
Well known as a sleeper who cycled through town, Wildbore-Brumby lived a life alien to most of society.
Te Kai Po Ahuriri, a close friend of Wildbore-Brumby, planned a candlelight vigil at the duck pond on Thursday at 7pm for anyone who knew and loved him.
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They had met 20 years earlier on the steps of All Saints’ Anglican Church and became friends.
Ahuriri said Wildbore-Brumby struggled in various areas of her life.
“He wanted to stay in another world with alcohol because he hated the life he was living here. Every day was a fight for him. “
Supplied
Owen Charles Wildbore-Brumby, 40, was found dead in Te Marae or Hine / The Square on Tuesday.
Over the years, their friendship grew and Ahuriri tried to care for him, offering Wildbore-Brumby a place to stay during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
Finally, Wildbore-Brumby returned to the streets.
“He couldn’t operate here because we have rules. He had just lived too long in that other life of one set of clothes for the week. “
Ahuriri scrolled through the countless photos they had together, remembering the good times they had shared when Things I visited him on Wednesday.
“He has a lot of friends and I think everything has flipped the switch where we can think we could have done better.”
Wildbore-Brumby had been part of an addiction program run by Legacy Church.
Within the program, Wildbore-Brumby learned wellness methods, but John Faiz, a pastor at the church, said he had a passion for gym sessions.
“He had his good moments and his absent moments. [He] he was kind of a seasonal guy. “
WARWICK SMITH / Things
Friends gather on Wednesday afternoon and place a cross on the scene at Te Marae or Hine / The Square where the body of Owen Charles Wildbore-Brumby was found.
Wildbore-Brumby had volunteered at Legacy Church for seven years preparing vegetables, helping maintain sections and providing a little character to the church, Faiz said.
“He had a really helpful heart to serve and help. It was cheeky and funny.
“He was quite loyal to his friends. He may not have had a great group of people, but he was always there, and you could tell he really valued his relationships. “
He lived tough, but there were many sides to a person, Lydia Read said.
Read, the lead pastor of Hope Vineyard, was shocked when she heard that Wildbore-Brumby had died.
He watched as Wildbore-Brumby’s friends placed a white cross on the ground near where his body was found the day before.
She acknowledged that Wildbore-Brumby had a tough exterior that was hard to break, but deep down there was a funny and kind man.
“Once you met him, he had a really beautiful spirit and a really beautiful heart.
“We all knew him and we really love him.”
Read said church members saw a different side of him that many others didn’t.
“We knew him as someone with a pretty kind spirit,” Read said.
“People don’t realize that because they didn’t get over the outward expression of who he was, but the real Owen was a treasure.”
* An earlier version of this story referred to the deceased with the unique surname Wildbore as he was known to his people.
