18 Facts About Ron Guthrey

Ron Guthrey was a World War II veteran and he and his family were well-known business operators in Christchurch.

Ron Guthrey was an entrepreneur from a young age, as shown by his insurance scheme for caning.

Ron Guthrey charged a shilling a term and paid out a penny per whack.

Ron Guthrey was a member of the New Zealand 20th Battalion during World War II.

In November 1941 Ron Guthrey's battalion was part of the New Zealand 4th Infantry Brigade in the 2nd New Zealand Division, he was the second lieutenant commanding the Bren Gun Carrier platoon.

Ron Guthrey lay on the battlefield until a German burial party in a captured New Zealand truck found him and took him to a hospital.

Ron Guthrey's MC was duly gazetted on 20 January 1942.

Ron Guthrey did not learn of it until some time later when his parents sent him a newspaper clipping containing this news.

Ron Guthrey contested the Christchurch South electorate in the 1943 election for the National Party and came a distant second to the incumbent, Labour's Robert Macfarlane.

Ron Guthrey was a Christchurch city councillor from the 1944 local election to 1968, and served as mayor from 1968 to 1971.

Ron Guthrey was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1968 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to local government.

Ron Guthrey was strong proponent of the Lyttelton road tunnel, and of the Christchurch International Airport.

Ron Guthrey chaired the Airport Committee at the time of the opening of the new terminal building in 1960.

Ron Guthrey championed the opening up of Hagley Park through the Armagh Street bridge and supported the development of the Botanic Gardens car park, and implemented the "toast rack".

Ron Guthrey was responsible for the motorway development, the first flyover, the first parking building, the saving of Mona Vale as a public park for the citizens, and the beginning of local body amalgamation.

Ron Guthrey was responsible for the introduction of the one-way street system.

Ron Guthrey condemned the act as an insult to the war dead.

Son of Ron is John Guthrey, famously known for his outspoken character, and his controversial cardboard coffins.