Creating a community

Reverend Olds and his wife Edith had been living in Omokoroa, where he was the first minister of the local Community Church, for over a decade when they realised that many elderly people were having to leave the village they loved as they got older.

Olds had proven before that he was someone who got things done. He decided Omokoroa needed a retirement village and got the ball rolling, with plenty of community support. A trust was formed and the deposit paid on the Precious Brothers’ property. This was the beginning of a huge project, one too big for “a bunch of old fogies”.

It was suggested that Mac meet Fraser Sanderson. The rest is history. History well worth recording as Mac’s son David wholeheartedly agrees. “My father would be absolutely chuffed,” he says of Chris Cole’s achievement. “Chris has put in many hours of work to complete a massive compilation of the evolution of OCE and it is a credit to him and an asset for the archives of the estate.”

Reverend and Mrs Olds moved into OCE in March 1990 and he enjoyed the fruits of his foresight until his death in 2000, Edith living there until 2012. David and Barbara Olds moved into the village in 2003, making the Olds maybe the only family to have two generations living at OCE at the same time!