23 October 2001 Gave beloved trees to education and research: Obituary for Frank White 1910 - 2001

Canterbury has lost its "Man of the Trees" but his legacy, a 418-hectare farm­ cum-arboretum at Hororata, lives on for the educational and research benefit of all thanks to a trust he established some 20 years ago.

Frank White who died on 1 October aged 91 was one of Lincoln University's oldest alumni and a benefactor to his alma mater through the trust which now administers his property, "Silverwood".

Always identifiable in khaki shorts and black beret, -  he  was  also  widely known as "The Man in the Black Beret" - Frank White had a lifelong passion for trees, inspired by his childhood in the Quantock Hills of Somerset.

Every paddock on his farm had at least one shelter belt. Woodlots, research plots and ornamental trees dotted the property, which was once part of Sir John Hall's Rakaia Terrace Station. He was a past winner of the national Farm Forester of the Year title and was a foundation member of the Central Canterbury Farm Forestry Association.

Born in England in 1910, Frank rejected the family tradition of a legal or military career and came to New Zealand specifically to pursue an agricultural education.

Enrolling at Lincoln University's forerunner, Canterbury Agricultural College, under the personal guidance of its then Director, RE Alexander, Frank completed a Diploma of Agriculture over 1928-29.

From CAC he went into a farm cadetship then to a range of jobs on the land including shepherding and mustering on various Canterbury properties.

He purchased "Silverwood", his Hororata property, not long before the outbreak of the Second World War.

When war came, the resourcefulness which Frank had developed mustering and shepherding on Canterbury stations made him an effective member of the Long Range Desert Group. Selected for officer training, he rose to the rank of captain. In the postwar years he became Patron of the Long Range Desert Group's New Zealand association.

On his "Silverwood" property he ran corriedale ewes and Murray Grey cows but his heart was really with his tree plantings and they came to be regarded as a rich environmental and research resource.

He planted some 170 species of trees on his property and gave away thousands of seedlings over the years. Only in recent times did he give up climbing trees to collect seeds.

Frank's community service included 11 years as a county councillor, 24 years on the Selwyn Plantation Board, 40 years on the Coalgate Saleyards Committee and 35 years on the Hororata River Committee.

Frank had a keen sense of adventure, evidenced by his wartime exploits when he escaped from the Greek Island of Leros to the Turkish mainland in a rowing boat and the fulfillment of his 90th birthday wish to go for a ride in a hot air balloon.

Unassuming about his war experiences, he was one of a small band who, having sailed with the First Echelon in January 1940, fought through all the campaigns in North Africa, Greece, Crete and Italy and was still in the frontline at the end of hostilities. He finished the war as a Troop Commander in the 20th Armoured Regiment, entering Trieste in May 1945.

Frank recorded his life in a book An Ordinary man - Frank's Story published in 1999 by Dryden Press.

"I like to think that others will benefit from all the tree planting I have done," he said in the concluding sentence of the book .

A somewhat brusque manner belied a ready wit - a bachelor, he would amuse himself with the unwary by often saying he had to '--'get home to the wife",
referring, as his friends knew, to his faithful dog.

Frank's funeral at St John's Church, Hororata was attended by his extended family of friends and various Lincoln University representatives including former Lincoln College Principal, Emeritus Professor Sir James Stewart, who chairs the Silverwood trust, Alumni Association Manager Rebecca McIntosh and Director of Farms Tony Whatman.

(Reginald Francis (Frank) White, born Somerset, England, 21 March 1910, died Darfield, New Zealand, 1 October 2001)

 Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.