Colin McLeod (engineer)

McLeod was born in Auckland on 5 August 1921, the son of Norman John Murdoch McLeod, also an engineer, and Eva Mary McLeod (née Ringrose).[1][2] Raised in the Wellington suburb of Karori, he was educated at Wellington College, and went on to study civil engineering at Canterbury University College, graduating BE in 1942.[1][3]

Following graduation, McLeod initially worked in the Public Works Department, designing coastal defences.[1] In April 1943, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Corps of New Zealand Engineers, but was decommissioned and sent overseas in January 1944 as a sapper, serving in Italy.[1][4][5] He was again commissioned as a second lieutenant in February 1945,[6] and served as adjutant to Brigadier Fred Hanson.[4] In March 1946, he went to Japan with the 5th Engineer Company as part of J Force.[1]

Returning to New Zealand in September 1946, he married Ella Margaret McEwan, and the couple went on to have three children.[1][7][8][9]

McLeod resumed his career with the Ministry of Works, and in 1949 moved to Mangakino, where he rose to become the project engineer for construction of the Waikato River dams.[9] In 1962, McLeod became district commissioner of works in Wanganui.[9] and then, from 1964 to 1966, district commissioner of Works in Hamilton.[10] After an Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship in the United States in 1966, McLeod served as director of the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority from 1966 to 1971.[10] He was appointed Commissioner of Works, succeeding Jim Macky, in 1973,[1][9][11][12] and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1981, when he was succeeded by Jack Chesterman.[13] In the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours, McLeod was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, in recognition of his service as commissioner.[14]

McLeod's wife, Ella, was active in community activities, including 15 years as a member of the Wellington Hospital Board from 1974 to 1989.[9] In the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for community service.[15] She died on 20 June 2011.[9]

Colin McLeod died in Wellington on 6 April 2018.[7]