Since North Haven Hospice’s beginning, gifts in wills have substantially benefitted the organisation and allowed us to continue supporting and providing care freely throughout our communities.  Sometimes they have even been a saving grace, reducing projected deficits and giving timely funding when very little is available.

Dr Katharine Bowden, MNZM

Dr Katharine Bowden was very well-known in Whangārei, especially onthe Tutukaka Coast where she raised her family and in Ngunguru where she set upand began a much-needed GP practice. Katharine was awarded the honour of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2001 for Services to Public Health and Community.

Katharine was instrumental in establishing Coastal Care, a volunteer group trained by hospice providing confidential support and assistance to those in need in the community. Many people may also know of her pioneering medical practices and advocacy for women, especially with Family Planning NZ in Whangārei.  

A very busy woman in both her professional and family life, Katharine became a widow at the age of 52 when her husband Bernard, a renowned ophthalmologist died from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She had six children, 11 grandchildren and 3great-grandchildren at the time of her death, some of whom still live on the coast and at Tawapou.  Her memories are captured in the book she authored and published in 2009, “Best of Both Worlds”.

Katharine passed away peacefully on 1 June 2022 aged 93years, leaving gifts in her will to three charities including North Haven Hospice.

What you may not know is that Katharine was a strong Hospice supporter. She was involved as a volunteer in the in-patient unit of North Haven Hospice, in the wider community recording people’s life stories and as a North Haven Hospice Board member for a number of years.  It is always so humbling to know hospice was a consideration not just in Katharine’s volunteering and Board contributions, but also in leaving a gift to us given the many other interests, community services and hobbies she had.

Gifts in wills don’t have to be large and Katharine’s was modest by today’s standards, but she wanted to contribute what she could, to places she valued.

Katharine’s family continue to add to that legacy in supporting and helping their own communities to develop and fundraise for the needs of today.   It is important to acknowledge this, as every gift in a will is important and not about the amount that is given.  It represents the care and desire of the person to leave something of a personal legacy, something that speaks to their values and something their loved ones and family recognise as being a continuance of their community spirit and generosity.  

‍