Obituary: Trevor Gribble (1910-2001) (2001)

Obituary from the November 2001 issue of the Socialist Standard

"In memory of Trevor Gribble, died 25th August 2001. A worker and Socialist who, understanding the unjust nature of the present society in which we live, strived unceasingly to point out the ignoble, cruel and anti-social nature of capitalism to his fellow workers, and to march forward to a society where people shall not exploit each other. Inserted by members and friends of the World Socialist Party (New Zealand), P. O. Box 1929 Auckland, in memory of a life well spent."

This was the obituary notice the New Zealand Herald refused to run.

The WSP(NZ) lodged an appeal to the NZ Press Council. This was rejected, followed by an appeal to the NZ Advertising Complaints Board. This too was rejected, because the Board rules only on advertisements (including obituary notices) that appear in print — not on advertisements that should have appeared in print. Therefore we had to settle for a less inflammatory message that, in the view of the NZ Herald, would not upset the delicate sensitiveness of the NZ working class. So in death, as in life, Trevor Gribble was still fighting the capitalist system.

Trevor was a foundation member of the WSP(NZ) back in the 1930s along with Jack Humphrey, Rolf and Ron Everson, to mention but a few. He was secretary of the Auckland Branch for many years, seeing a rise and ebb of political consciousness, but managing to keep the party alive at the same time. Trevor was Literature Secretary from 1947 to 1998, as well as maintaining the Library for many years in between. In 1975, Trevor was one of seven WSP(NZ) members who stood in the parliamentary elections.

The funeral commenced with a recording of John Lennon's Imagine. The main oration was delivered by Trevor's eldest grandson, who outlined Comrade Trevor Gribble's life path up until his death, nine days before his 91st birthday.

A party comrade made the point that Trevor walked through life with his integrity intact and not a reformist bone in his body, which more than can be said for the parasites who reside in the Kremlin, the White House and Buckingham Palace. Trevor was not a platform speaker, but he was always ready to introduce the socialist case to anyone who would listen. His house was always open to crank out copies of the Socialist Viewpoint on an old Gestetner stencil machine long before the days of photocopiers and computers.

Our condolences go to his wife and family.

Executive Committee WSP(NZ)

Blogger's Note:

For those readers who are interested in learning more about the history of the World Socialist Party of New Zealand, there was an interesting article by the late Peter E. Newell that was published in the November 2004 issue of the Socialist Standard.