A Timaru man who was chairman of both the South Canterbury and Southern district health boards is being remembered as someone who was knowledgeable and led by example.

Joseph (Joe) Gordon Butterfield, a born and bred Timaruvian, a chartered accountant who loved yachting, passed away at Strathallan Life Care in Timaru on June 11, aged 82. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Arnott and two children.

Butterfield’s daughter, Megan van Dyk, said he was someone who led by example and loved people and being around people.

“He taught us to treasure and nurture the relationships with people,” van Dyk said.

“He had a very bold and big personality, and he was gregarious and outgoing. He loved life and always tried to enjoy what he was doing and who he was doing it with.”

Van Dyk said her father loved being outside whether it was skiing on the mountain or sailing in the water and some of her best memories with her father have been during those times.

She added that his love for sailing had passed on to her brother, Robert Butterfield, who, along with his children, has continued to sail.

Current SCDHB chairperson Ron Luxton said Butterfield was the first chairperson he served under when he joined the board 21 years ago.

“He was a confident chairperson,” Luxton said of Butterfield’s nine-year stint as chairman that ended when he stepped down in 2009. In 2010 Butterfield began a four-year appointment as the Southern DHB chairman.

“He had a good grasp of the financials of the district health board and made sure everyone…