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Jack Comeskey
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DescriptionPictured in the 'Upper Hutt Citizen', 14-15 May 1988, with an article on his early memories.
The 'Citizen' also included recollections by Brian Rabbitt and Jeanie Hebbend, old photographs, and articles on Angus McCurdy, James Brown, and Hazelwoods
Jack was a descendant of Upper Hutt's first settler, James Brown, and a grandson of James Comeskey, the Upper Hutt postmaster, who was killed by an explosion in Benge and Pratt's store in 1914.
He remembered tales about an axe murder at a railwy workers' camp and the subsequent manhunt and arrest.
During World War II he was a pupil at St Patrick's College.
He also remembered the St Joseph's convent school and the orphanage, headed by Mother Mary Ambrose, and her buying of land for orchards, gardens and meat.
The library's copy of this 'Citizen' is in the Jan-June 1987 'Leader' bound volume.
Jack died on August 17, 2002; The August 28 'Leader' report on his funeral said he had gained five years thanks to a kidney transplant. He had married Thecla Strickland in 1951 at St Joseph's Church, and in the mid-50s he and his brother Jim bought an Akatarawa dairy farm. In the 1960s he had helped the Sisters of Mercy with the running of the children's home after the manager died. He had had a 40-year career in insurance. He was a past president of the Cosmopolitan Club, and involved in Rotary.
Thecla died on August 1, 2003, in Hutt Hospital, aged 77; the August 13 'Leader' covered the funeral.
Date TakenMay 1988
The 'Citizen' also included recollections by Brian Rabbitt and Jeanie Hebbend, old photographs, and articles on Angus McCurdy, James Brown, and Hazelwoods
Jack was a descendant of Upper Hutt's first settler, James Brown, and a grandson of James Comeskey, the Upper Hutt postmaster, who was killed by an explosion in Benge and Pratt's store in 1914.
He remembered tales about an axe murder at a railwy workers' camp and the subsequent manhunt and arrest.
During World War II he was a pupil at St Patrick's College.
He also remembered the St Joseph's convent school and the orphanage, headed by Mother Mary Ambrose, and her buying of land for orchards, gardens and meat.
The library's copy of this 'Citizen' is in the Jan-June 1987 'Leader' bound volume.
Jack died on August 17, 2002; The August 28 'Leader' report on his funeral said he had gained five years thanks to a kidney transplant. He had married Thecla Strickland in 1951 at St Joseph's Church, and in the mid-50s he and his brother Jim bought an Akatarawa dairy farm. In the 1960s he had helped the Sisters of Mercy with the running of the children's home after the manager died. He had had a 40-year career in insurance. He was a past president of the Cosmopolitan Club, and involved in Rotary.
Thecla died on August 1, 2003, in Hutt Hospital, aged 77; the August 13 'Leader' covered the funeral.
Date TakenMay 1988Part of
About the original
Reference1988 05 04 02FormatGreyscale printSize119 x 135
FormatGreyscale printSize119 x 135Scanned byDon McLeod
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Jack Comeskey. Upper Hutt Libraries, accessed 23/08/2026, https://uhcl.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/24419