~~~~~

*A talk by Michelle Vette will take place at the Rudolf Steiner Centre on 
Monday 11 th August.
Starting with Soup and bread at 5 o’clock. (A Koha would be appreciated.)
Her presentation will begin at 5.30 pm.

". . . As we consider our daily lives, and the intentions behind the lives we have come
to, a current quandary is the question of Morality. What does this mean today, how
do we consider and act upon Rudolf Steiners advice that for every step we take in
spiritual development we need to take two in moral development.
Looking at the lectures in the Spiritual Foundation of Morality and the Bridge lecture I
would like to open and invite conversation on this theme."
*There will be prepared material I will bring and then we can take up discussion. Michelle.

If you want to read in preparation:

* GA 155. The Spiritual Foundation of Morality - Rudolf Steiner Archive

** The Bridge Between Universal Spirituality and the Physical Constitution of Man
 GA 202. The Bridge Between Universal Spirituality and the Physical Constitution of Man (1958) - Rudolf Steiner Archive

✭ 2nd May 1941

✝︎ 23rd June 2025

Daniel was a quiet and caring person who was often seen in recent years walking with his wife, Rita, throughout Havelock North.  He carried an inner strength and a warmth in heart and voice that suggested he was at home in his body.  Yet it was a struggle for him to come into this earthly realm.  His was a difficult birth in Dunedin, and because he was considered to have poor muscle tone, his feet and legs were in plaster casts until he was five.  He then wore supportive boots with braces until seven - but he had begun walking in those boots and never stopped!

The gift of a piano for his seventh birthday began his personal journey with music, and the organ at the family’s local Anglican Church - St Michael and All Angels – became his preferred instrument from age nine.  Family and garden, Bible stories and church were important and from the beginning of his teen years, he played for Evensong and then the main morning service on Sundays.

Outdoor activities with Scouts and Church Youth groups during his teens led him into tramping and camping, while playing piano and organ, singing in the choir and serving in the church were staples.  His mother and uncle were quietly studying Anthroposophy with Beryl Stegman at Larnach Castle, but it was not until he was twenty and read “Theosophy of the Rosicrucians” that Daniel turned his own personal gaze towards Anthroposophy.  While he worked for an insurance company in Dunedin from the age of 18½  for twelve years, he also learned to drive and for up to 7 years was a volunteer driver for the Foundation for the Blind in evenings and weekends.  During his twenties he began attending Anthroposophical conferences and through family friends, the Stronachs, was introduced to Hohepa in Christchurch and Poraiti.  At the age of 28 he met Francis Edmunds on one of his New Zealand visits, and Daniel began to think of attending Emerson College.  But a motorbike accident at the age of 29 with consequent coma and being off work for several months, slowed that impulse.  When Alex Podolinsky, visiting Christchurch in 1972, told Daniel to go to Emerson College, he was on a boat for England within 3 months.  Suddenly Daniel found himself in a community of kindred spirits, which he had not ever felt before.  He spent four years at Emerson, completing the Foundation year, the Teacher Training, a year with John Wilkes and his final year with Dana Prager, weaving.  During each of the Summer breaks he journeyed with Julian Pook’s Art Tour, singing with his choir in churches throughout Italy.

He even managed to be the driver for a Michael Hall Class Twelve trip to Eastern Europe! Many of the people who were tutors or shared those years at Emerson College have been met again around the world in various communities; many have settled here in Hawke’s Bay!

In 1976 he applied for a position as Weaver in Newton Dee Camphill in Scotland, was accepted and drove north to begin work.  On arrival, Daniel was asked to work in the bakery instead – so he learned to bake bread, 12 hours a day, six days a week! Camphill life was very self-contained and after 3 years in Newton Dee he felt a clear message to return to New Zealand, but the Weihs’ called him to Corbenic Camphill Community in Perthshire.  After just 6 months there a call came from his mother to return; his father was dying.  He stayed in Dunedin for several months during which time his sister also died; he then travelled back to England with his mother to visit her sister living there.  By August 1980 they were both back in Dunedin and Daniel began work with the Crippled Children’s Society early 1981.  After a year, funding for this work was discontinued and he turned to Hohepa, Wharerangi, where he began to work in April 1982.

Rita Pierog arrived from Canada in January 1983, but it was not until Daniel and Rita went camping and tramping during January 1984, that they felt they belonged together.  Both were working at Wharerangi and shared many holidays tramping various parts of New Zealand.  In May 1985 they became engaged and had their civil wedding in December, in Napier.  1986, after the Hohepa May course, was to be the date of their Marriage sacrament in The Christian Community, but the visiting priest, Julian Sleigh, was too ill.  Food and flowers were ready, so this became their ‘Social Wedding’ with many staff and residents of Hohepa.

In 1987 both travelled to Sydney; Rita to do a Foundation year at Parsifal College and Daniel to work in the Demeter Bakery.  While there, they managed their third wedding; the Marriage sacrament with the visiting priest on Daniel’s forty-sixth birthday.  For the next ten years, Daniel and Rita worked in curative homes in New Zealand (Auckland and Hawke’s Bay), South Africa (‘Alpha’ near Capetown), and England (‘The Grange' near Gloucester).  During these years, Daniel became a service-holder for the Offering Service at Hohepa, Rita following a few years later.  In 1996 Daniel began work at Hohepa on the Therapy and Development Centre for those young people with very high needs who had left the Home School and were not yet ready for the Workshops.

In April 1998, Daniel and Rita bought their first home; a quarter acre on Plassey Street in Havelock North.  Big enough for Daniel to develop a mini-orchard and garden using BD preps and methods, and convert a garage into a studio for weaving and painting.  By October 2004, Daniel retired from his work at Hohepa to recover from burn-out and high blood pressure.  Just two years later he was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma and his cancer journey, supported by Iscador, began.  For 17 years Daniel and Rita enjoyed Plassey Street where hard and enjoyable work in the garden yielded many bottles of fruit and vegetables, preserved and dehydrated.  As Rita’s eyesight worsened they made the decision to sell Plassey Street and move into an apartment at Mary Doyle Retirement Complex where they have lived for 10 years - still with kitchen gardens!

Daniel has always served others during his life and his initial struggle with his body seemed to only make him more quietly determined to work with his will.  His foundational years with regular church ritual that led to a strong connection with The Christian Community (from Emerson days) were reflected in his faith and trust in the spiritual world and in Christ.  His love of and patience with humanity encouraged by his anthroposophical meditative work, supported all his relationships, especially with those with special needs.  He now carries these gifts in the spiritual world.

Lesley Waite