Widow delighted to be reunited with late husband’s medal
The widow of a Nelson police officer was delighted to be reunited with her husband’s medal after it was found in a local op shop.
Kay Hunter was surprised to hear from Tasman District senior constable Nyanne Graf-Pollard in June, saying she had the Police Long Service and Good Conduct medal awarded to Hunter’s husband, superintendent Lindsay Hunter.
Graf-Pollard had been working to return the medal to its owner ever since her sister, Kaye Miller, found it while she was volunteering at the Salvation Army Family Store in Nelson.
Miller usually sorted through the jewellery, among other things, and when she happened upon the medal she was curious how something so “precious and personal” had ended up there, Graf-Pollard said.
“She understands the value of medals and how precious those things are to people and their families. [If she didn’t tell me] it could have easily gone into the store and got sold,” she said.
Together with her partner Bruce, their first port of call was to put out feelers on a retired police network group on Facebook, posting a photograph of the medal.
The medal had Lindsay’s name engraved in it and was awarded to him nearly 50 years ago, in 1978.
“I thought maybe this person’s retired or no longer with us,” Graf-Pollard said.
A lot of people commented on the post that they knew Lindsay and had worked with him in different areas around the country, but then engagement with the post went quiet.
Graf-Pollard thought at the time that if they didn’t find the owner, she would make sure that the medal went to the Police College Museum.
Then she got an email from Hunter.
“Kay emailed me and said a family member had told her that I had the medal.”
They organised to meet up a few weeks later.
Hunter said she had no idea how the medal had come to be at the family store.
“I have moved house, so it’s possible that it got moved on in a bag of stuff to be recycled. I guess we’ll never know,” she said.
Now with the medal back in her hands, Hunter said she planned to take care of it. Although, she said, the medal had become a bit famous after the whole ordeal.
“Having the medal back in my hands is yet another reminder of all those years Lindsay and I spent together, and in particular, his dedication to police work and the friendships we both developed amongst his police colleagues.”
She added that her husband would have “loved” the story of his medal, how it got lost, ended up in an op shop, and through the police found its way back to his “I family.
“I really appreciate the efforts from Nyanne, Kaye and Bruce and everyone else to get the medal back to me.”
Lindsay served in the police force for 40 years. He was from the No 2 Walter Nash Cadet Wing No 2 in 1958. He was a probationary constable in 1960, was promoted to sergeant in 1965, became senior sergeant in 1971, inspector in 1975 and superintendent in 1991.
He served in Canterbury, Tasman, Wellington and was appointed director of training at the Royal New Zealand Police College in 1988. He also went on to serve as a member of the Police Association.
By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail
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