Former Invercargill councillor, broadcaster remembered
“He was old school, he was a man who upheld his own principles and really enjoyed people.”
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Former Invercargill City Councillor and broadcaster, Lindsay Abbott, has died.
Abbott died aged 76 in the early hours of Saturday morning after battling health challenges for many years.
Abbott had a stint as an Invercargill City Councillor from 1971 to 1974 before returning in 2007.
He remained a mainstay at the council until the 2022 election, when he opted to stand down because of his health issues.
Current councillor Darren Ludlow, who worked alongside Abbott through his time on council from 2007 to 2022, said he enjoyed Abbott as a councillor.
Before Abbott’s death, he asked Ludlow to speak at his funeral.
“We often found ourselves on different sides of an argument, but we debated issues openly and when the debate was finished it was all put away,” Ludlow said.
“He was a very professional collegial councillor. He chaired the community services committee for a while.
“He was old school; he was a man who upheld his own principles and really enjoyed people.”
During the 1970s, Abbott spent some time working for Radio New Zealand and later worked at Mercury TV in advertising, while also hosting shows on the Invercargill-based TV station. It included a country music show, which was a passion.
From his Invercargill home, Abbott started up his own low-powered radio station called Kiwi Pie Radio.
When Abbott retired as a councillor, Abbott turned Kiwi Pie into an online radio offering, renaming it Kiwi Nomad Radio.
Abbott operated it out of the back of his caravan at various locations around the South Island so he could balance it between enjoying life, including fishing.
Latterly, Abbott was based in Kaitangata, where he enjoyed being part of that community.
Radio Southland also aired Abbott’s programme three times a week.
Ludlow, who is also Radio Southland’s station manager, said: “I loved his voice, he had beautiful old school radio rounded vowels. He was always good to listen to.”
A funeral will be held for Lindsay Abbott in Invercargill on Saturday.