Herlihy said there had been a good response from more than 100 people since the idea was put on social media 18 months ago. “If everyone turned up it meant we may not have been able to hold it at the club. “It would be a pity to have got this close and call it all off.” Instead, those coming to the reunion will still be able to walk through town from midday onwards and meet old friends for a coffee, or a doughnut at Nelson’s Bakery, he said. Herlihy had ruled out people from Auckland arriving due to the alert level 3 restricting travel in and out of the city until 6am Sunday morning.
A horn sounded as his coffin was brought to Eagars Te Henui Chapel, in Lemon Street, New Plymouth. His grandchildren packed into the front cab and waved at attendees as it pulled up outside the funeral home, with the words ‘Rest in Peace Trev’ written on the back. Biesiek had been in the industry since 1983, and there was not a local truck driver who would not know of him, the family reckoned. He had grown up in Inglewood and never left.
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Trevor had been in the trucking industry since 1983 and worked for J.D Hickman. He started a family with his wife, Janine, and they had four children: Daniel, Amy, Rachael and Stephanie, and nine grandchildren.