Wayne Guppy

Biography

BiographyWayne Noel Guppy, the son of Colin and Joy Guppy, was born in Upper Hutt on 31 August 1954. Colin was a policeman, attested in 1951 and trained as a dog handler in 1957; promoted to sergeant 1964; and ran the Wellington dog unit until he retired in 1985. He died on October 13, 1985.

Wayne attended St. Patrick's College Silverstream. He obtained a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Wayne and Sue Guppy opened their pharmacy in 1982.

In April 1987 Wayne was lecturer in clinical pharmacy, Hutt Hospital, and group chairman of the pharmacy practice department, CIT.

His wife, Sue, was pictured as owner and pharmacist in Guppy's Dispensary, 53 Main Street, in December 1987. In 1988 they joined the Amcal Chemists marketing group.

The business was later bought by Mike and Joanna Seymour, who also owned a Unichem shop; the two were merged at 53 Main Street in September 2000.

Wayne was active as a rugby coach; Upper Hutt in 1990, when they won the Swindale Shield for the first time; Wellington development XV coach in 2000; Upper Hutt stand-in senior one coach in 2004.

He was elected to the city council in 1998; it was his first attempt, and he polled higher than any other candidate.

In 2001 he was elected mayor; there were three other contenders, but he had 62% of the valid votes.

In May 2003 he was elected chairman of a new Wellington regional civil-defence and emergency-management group.

In 2020 he continued to serve as mayor of Upper Hutt. Last edited by: Don McLeod