Representing the Lake Tekapo Community.
Gottlieb - oh good and faithful friend of Lake Tekapo and its precious environs, we humbly stand here in reverence to bid you farewell and to acknowledge and thank you for all you contributed and accomplished for the good of this community.
You were a very busy person and yet you always made time to take an active interest in the well-being of this beautiful area that you held so very dear to your heart.
As a man of great vision and of incredible principle and caliber - we will struggle to find your equal, and regardless of the cost - sometimes to your pride or your very being you always stood firm and never wavered in your convictions and those things you believed in - and not least of all for what you felt was best for this earth - the sun, the sky, the light, the air of this place you so fondly called home...
You were not ready to leave us, and we were certainly not ready to let you go, but you can be sure your spirit will continue to live on and be strong in this community. You were of good timber...
For the tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light
That stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing
The man who never had to toil
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began
Good timber does not grow in ease
The stronger the wind, the tougher the tree
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the greater strength
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man, good timber grows.
Where thickest stands the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both
And they hold converse with the stars
Where broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife
This is the common law of life.
Gottlieb - the Lake Tekapo Community salutes you
God speed
Rest well among your mountains.