Brian Callaghan
Brian John Callaghan was Ross's younger brother.
Brian was born on December 4th, 1948, at Narrow Neck, Auckland. He attended Takapuna Primary School, Belmont Intermediate School and St Kentigern College. His school number at St Kents was 1093.
After leaving school Brian qualified as a Medical Laboratory Technologist and established a new business, Callaghan Laboratories, that tested wine. Later he worked for Corban's wines as a wine tester but then moved on to establish Lifetech Laboratories, specialising in the tissue culture of many plant varieties. Brian then became a quality auditor with his work taking him all around the world.
In his youth Brian was very good at rugby and athletics. Later he took up golf, playing at North Shore Golf Club, but unfortunately had significant problems with his back and knees which hindered his golfing abilities.
In 1972 Brian married Margaret Gatman, and they had four children: Stephanie, Natalie, Andrew, and James (Jamie). The family lived on the North Shore close to Jack and Madge Callaghan and then moved to Te Maru, a small farm near Silverdale, north of Auckland. Margaret left for Australia in 1991 leaving Brian to bring up the children.
In 1996 I (Ross) had the pleasure of officiating when Brian married Julie Gray in an outdoor ceremony. Julie was a dental technician, and was wonderful in relating to Brian's children and grandchildren.
Brian and Julie lived in the Settlers Retirement Village in Albany.
Julie and Brian. 2006.
Brian (Da) had an amazing collection of frogs in all shapes, sizes, media and styles. (Sometimes he was called Mr Frog!). The frog collecting came about because our father used frogs in the early days of Biological Laboratories for pregnancy testing.
Brian and Ross with Grandma in 1996. Ross and Brian in 2001
Brian's 70th birthday 4 December 2018. Ross, Kathy, Brian and Julie
- Stephanie is a midwife. Her first child, Taylor, was the pride and joy of Grandma (Madge Callaghan - Ross and Brian's mother) in the final years of her life. Stephanie is married to Michael Armstrong, a doctor. They have three children Isabella-Grace, Natalia-Rose and Liberty Summer Pearl.
Front: Libbie, Bella and Talia 2016
- Natalie originally worked in business management. She is married to Shane Wijohn and they have three children Tyson, Levi and Tiana. Shayla, Shane's daughter also lives with them. Shane and Natalie run a security firm on Auckland's North Shore and Natalie works for City Impact Church.
- Andrew is a builder, surfer and volunteer Firefighter. Andrew and partner Jenni live in Muriwai, on the West Coast near Auckland. They have a daughter Abby.
