Businesswoman
Punctuality was one of the principles Sue Berry inherited from her parents.
So when legendary British actor Sir Michael Caine asked the young New Zealand physiotherapist out on a date in London and then turned up late, she promptly gave him his marching orders.
That is just one example of how Mrs Berry’s sparkling personality opened the doors to some extraordinary encounters during a life which has aptly been described as a “cracker”.
Mrs Berry, who died in Queenstown on April 6, aged 81, was the co-founder of Oamaru business success story Whitestone Cheese, a devoted wife of 55 years, culinary queen, formidable hostess — equally comfortable serving the prime minister as she was a shearing gang — and a passionate lover of life.
Susan Gibson Black was born, along with her identical twin sister Elizabeth, on March 2, 1944, at the El Nido maternity hospital in Dunedin, coincidentally the same place where her future husband Bob was born three months later.
Her father, George, was a stock agent for Dalgetys while her mother, Mabel, was the daughter of a pioneering Taieri Plain dairy farmer. When Mr Black was transferred to Whangarei, the twins attended the local primary school where lessons were in Māori.
After several years in the North Island, Mr Black was appointed Dalgetys’ branch manager in Dunedin and the family returned to the South, the girls only realising then what shoes were as they had been barefoot all their young lives.
Enrolled at Columba College, the Black twins began to stamp their mark at school, excelling in tennis and netball and creating confusion for both referees and players alike trying to establish which twin was marking whom. Those activities continued into their teenage years when many a young suitor was a little unsure as to who he actually was on a date with.
After completing their studies in physiotherapy and home science respectively, Mrs Berry and her twin sister — known as Lib — sailed to the United Kingdom on their OE in 1965. While Lib later returned home, her sister spent five years in the UK and Europe and some of the friendships made were to be life-long.
Working for the Minney family at their spa in East Grinstead, she was embraced by the family and had many nights dining with their guests.
One night, seated beside a rather portly fellow, she politely asked where he came from and what he did for a job. It was Reginald Maudling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Rubeigh (RJ) Minney, a celebrated British film producer, journalist, playwright, editor and author, wrote to Mrs Berry until his death in 1979. Such was Minney’s renown that former Labour prime minister Sir Harold Wilson read the lesson at his funeral while Dame Virginia McKenna — who starred in the 1958 British war drama film Carve Her Name With Pride, based on a book written by Minney — read a poem from the film.
From there, Mrs Berry moved to Florence, driven by a desire to learn Italian and was quickly offered a job by a hospital superintendent as there was a shortage of physiotherapists in the city.
She soon spoke fluent Italian, with a Florentine accent, and embraced the lifestyle of the city, the Italian people, and the country’s food and wine.
She socialised with Florence elite, including the Ferragamo family of the luxury shoe brand, and she thought she might live there for the rest of her life.
But fate intervened when Lib Black’s boyfriend was diagnosed with cancer and she returned to New Zealand to support her sister — and a young stock agent called Bob Berry was eagerly awaiting her return.
Mr Berry, whose boss was George Black, had spent a week in Florence with Susan Black during his own OE. Travelling by himself, he had taken advantage of contacts around the world.
In his haste to see her in her small apartment in a very narrow street, he had opened the taxi door as another car drove past, wiping the door off the taxi and causing much consternation with the Italian-speaking taxi driver.
A nearby lawyer managed to extract him from the debacle and the young pair enjoyed visiting art galleries, dining out and a weekend on the Mediterranean.
Following her arrival back in Dunedin, a whirlwind romance followed and, after a three-month engagement, the couple married at the Roslyn Presbyterian Church in Dunedin.
Speaking at a celebration of his wife’s life, Mr Berry recalled how his new bride was in for “a few culture shocks” when they embarked on their honeymoon to Te Anau.
Arriving for dinner at the THC Hotel and wearing the latest in fashion from Florence with a slightly see-through top, she was told by the maitre d’ — “you can’t come in here dressed like that. Go and put a cardy on”.
Settling into married life in Dunedin, Mrs Berry got a job as a physiotherapist at the hospital and when her husband took over the Berry family’s run at Waikouaiti, she was promoted to cook, replacing her father-in-law, Norman.
Cooking on a coal range in a hut with no electricity, she decided to treat the shearers, making her own pasta for a dish of lasagne. When the shearers duly arrived at noon, one took a bite of lasagne and flicked the entire dish out the door to the waiting dogs, much to the mortification of the cook.
But she had the last laugh. Several shearings later, a huge roast awaited the shearers until Mr Berry’s mainstay dog Dick grabbed it off the table and took it outside.
Mrs Berry retrieved the lump of meat, extracted the strands of tussock, trimmed it a bit and served it for lunch. “She was getting into the swing of things,” Mr Berry said, laughing.
In 1972, the couple welcomed their daughter Vanessa and, about a year later, the family moved to Puketeraki, in East Otago, and Mr Berry embarked on a full-time farming career. Son Simon arrived in 1974.
Mr Berry described the period his family spent at Karitane as “golden years”, while Simon berry said he and his sister had a fantastic free-range upbringing.
In 1982, the Berrys moved to Maheno to farm at Monte Cristo and Mrs Berry relocated her physiotherapy work to Oamaru Hospital. She also worked at interior design business Winj. She continued to cook for shearers and farm workers.
Farming in North Otago in the 1980s through drought and recessions was tough and, in 1987, the couple diversified from their farming operation by opening a cheese business.
From its beginnings in a converted garage, Whitestone Cheese was initially “a pretty slow burn”, Mr Berry recalled, but it slowly grew and Mrs Berry was in her element, fronting its stalls at wine and food festivals throughout the country and later in the United States.
She was also passionate about promoting the wider Waitaki district and served as chairwoman of the Waitaki Tourism Association.
When the business moved to a purpose-built factory, a cafe was added and her skills came to the fore running that side of the business. Mr Berry described her as an “extraordinary foodie and a fantastic cook”.
One of her proudest moments was being inducted into the Columba College Business Hall of Fame in 2012. Coincidentally, she was inducted alongside professional director Sarah Ottrey who is now chairwoman of Whitestone Cheese.
The business, now managed by Simon Berry and employing more than 80 staff, recently won the supreme award at the New Zealand Champions of Cheese Awards for its Monte Cristo cheese, an accolade which Simon dedicated to his mother.
Bob Berry said his wife’s hostess skills were legendary and she was also very adaptable. When former prime minister Sir Robert Muldoon was in Oamaru for a National Party function and the gathering ended up at the Berrys’ home, Mr Muldoon asked for a screwdriver cocktail.
Devoid of the ingredients required, Mrs Berry mixed him a gin and Jungle Juice, the latter borrowed from their young daughter, and he came back for more.
For 33 years, Mrs Berry was a member of a book group known affectionately as “Worms”, its members drawn from all corners of the Waitaki district, and, for the last 10 years, also a member of the Dorothy Browns Book Club in Arrowtown.
Fellow Worm Sandy Cameron described her as a “true bookworm” who had impressive literary knowledge across a wide range of books and authors. “She literally lit up the room at gatherings and sparkled with wit and humour.”
Mr and Mrs Berry shifted to Lake Hayes, near the mountains where the family spent many winters skiing. A year ago, Mrs Berry’s health deteriorated but her husband — who described her as his “rock” — said her positive attitude right up to her death made it so much easier for her family. “She had no regrets, having lived a fantastic life to the full”.
Simon Berry said his mother could be summed up in two words — great taste.
“The great taste she had in life whether that be her choice of colours and interior decorating, meals, destinations, drinks or friends. She always had and applied such nice taste,” he said.
And in her final months, she left her family with another valuable and final lesson, which was grace. Sipping a much-loved Negroni — appropriately a drink said to have been invented in Florence — her only wish was to simply see friends.
Mrs Berry is survived by husband Bob, daughter Vanessa, son Simon and grandchildren Mia, Jackson and Boe. — Sally Rae
