Ross and Kathy Callaghan were married in 1974.
Our 40th wedding anniversary.
Ross
Ross grew up in Takapuna, Auckland. His parents were Jack and Madge Callaghan and he had one brother, Brian. Brian died in February, 2023, aged 74.
When he was young Ross played rugby, but this stopped when he became good at golf. He won quite a few tournaments, played in the NZ Open twice and was on a one handicap as a teenager. He won the NZ University title in 1965 and gained a University Blue.
Ross became a Christian in 1964 and soon became involved in lots of ministry activities. See Ministry
In 1968 Ross graduated from Auckland with a B.Sc. and started his teaching career at Takapuna Grammar School.
Kathy
Kathy grew up in Hamilton and is the youngest of six. Her parents were Eric and Joyce Andersen, and her brothers and sisters are Patsy, Sue, Mike, Karen and John.
Kathy became a Christian in 1970. She has always been keen on music and in her childhood she sang in the school choir, the church choir and played the violin and guitar. She was born to sing!
Later on Kathy worked in the office for the Department of Social Welfare.
Ross and Kathy
Ross and Kathy met at Christian Youth Camps in Ngaruawahia in 1972 when they were leading children's camps. This was the start of a wonderful love relationship!!!
We got married in 1974 at Glenfield Presbyterian Church and have lived in Auckland, Wellsford, Warkworth/Snells Beach, Tawa, Lower Hutt, and now in Paraparaumu Beach.
Our children and grandchildren
All of our children were born at Warkworth Hospital; Debbie in 1976, Sarah in 1979 and Philip in 1981.
Debbie was Head of Sports at Queen Margaret College, then gained her B.Sc at Victoria University, and later a M. Phil in Emergency Management through Massey University. Debbie won a scholarship to the University of Idaho in 1996 which was a life-changing experience for her. She also represented NZ at Gaelic Football! She went out with Fraser Cunningham for many years, and they got married in 1999 at Lower Hutt Baptist Church. Debbie and Fraser now live in Melbourne and JJ (Joel James) was born in 2006, Heidi Joy in 2008, Luke Lewis in 2010, and Dan Caleb in August 2012. We get to see them regularly which is great. Fraser works for BP's marine division and is a well-respected and successful businessman. Debbie has recently completed a Masters in Speech Pathology and is now a clinical speech pathologist at St John of God Hospital in Melbourne.
Heidi, Debbie, Dan, Fraser, Luke and JJ. 2023
Sarah was Head of House at Chilton St James School and was particularly good at music, singing in the school choir. Her barbershop quartet, Cutting Edge, won the NZ Secondary Schools competition. Sarah graduated from Wellington Teachers College with a B.Teaching and has taught new entrants in Lower Hutt and Paekakariki schools. Sarah and Michael Stevens were married in 2003, again at Lower Hutt Baptist Church. They now live in Harbourview in Lower Hutt. Blake was born in 2010 and Isla in 2013. Sarah is a great barbershop singer. She sang in the Faultline Chorus with Kathy, and in quartets called Stage Hans and Jigsaw, and later with the the Wellington City Chorus. Sarah taught part-time at Belmont School (where Blake and Isla were students) and now works as a RTLB resource teacher (for teachers who have students with learning or behaviour difficulties). Michael is an IT specialist and an expert in all things technological.
Michael. Sarah, Isla, and Blake. 2023.
Phil was Head of School at Hutt International Boy's School. He has amazing abilities at playing music and being funny!! He's also got interested in golf (but hasn't ever beaten his father!). Phil has twice been to the United States as a camp counsellor. The second time there he met Sarah V, from Nova Scotia, Canada. Phil and Sarah were married in 2003 in Nova Scotia and settled in Wellington where Phil worked as the supervisor of the Discovery Centre at Te Papa, our national museum. Phil then set up his own business making customised badges and T shirts, with a shop in downtown Wellington. Phil is a great cricketer, and Sarah was a massage therapist. Phil and Sarahmoved to Melbourne in 2013.
Phil works as a host in the Melbourne Science Museum, and has a business (Manatees Oz) selling T shirts and hoodies online and through stands at youth conventions. Phil is a great cricketer and owns the franchise for the "Last Man Standing" T20 cricket competition in Melbourne. This involves coordinating cricket matches across the city (including teams, grounds, umpires and equipment).
Phil met his new partner Simone (Mo) at the Science Museum. In October 2018 Mo and Phil had their first child Billie Alice Callaghan. Phil and Mo got married in 2021.
Mo, Billie and Phil. 2023
Our parents
Ross's father, Jack Callaghan, was a leading businessman and entrepreneur. He loved his golf and was very proud of Ross's success at golf. 'Grandad' died in 1991.
Ross's mother, Madge Callaghan, was one of the famous Tyson girls from Runanga on the West Coast. She met Jack in Egypt during the Second World War. We were very sad when Grandma died in 2001. She had a heart of gold!
Jack and Madge Callaghan had two sons: Ross and Brian.
Madge and Jack, with Debbie, 1977 Brian, Madge (Grandma) and Ross 1999
Kathy's father, Eric Andersen was in the NZ Army in WW2 and afterwards worked with stainless steel. Grandpa died suddenly in 1987.
Kathy's mother Joyce Andersen was in the British Army and met Eric in London. They married and she came out to NZ as a war bride in 1945. Joyce was a prolific letter writer and had friends all over the world. Granny died in 2004.
Eric and Joyce had 6 children: Patsy Burton, Mike Andersen, Karen Dawson, Sue Andersen, John Andersen, and Kathy.
Kathy, Sue, Patsy, Karen, Mike, John 1959 Back: Mike, Kathy, Karen, John. Front: Sue, Patsy. 2010
Here are highlights of our lives over the years:
1974-1976 Glenfield
We got married in 1974 at Glenfield Presbyterian Church on Auckland's North Shore. We were given a poodle (Kimi), some tropical fish, and an orchid as wedding presents. We soon had 6 fish tanks and hundreds of orchids! Unfortunately Kimi had bad legs and we were heartbroken when he had to be put down. We went straight out and bought Sarita, another black poodle (and she lived with us for the next 14 years). The fish tanks have long since gone, but we still have quite a few orchids.
31st August, 1974 Sarita, our poodle Teaching at Takapuna Grammar
Ross was teaching at Takapuna Grammar School at the time and led a youth group (The Saturday Night Group), a mid-week Bible Study at Glenfield Presbyterian Church, and an ISCF group at Takapuna Grammar School. We also had a band called Koinonia which sang when Ross spoke at camps and evangelistic outreaches. One night our house was firebombed as we were singing! Someone wanted to kill off Christians! Fortunately the house didn't catch fire and that night God gave us a scripture: "This slight momentary affliction is preparing you for an eternal weight of glory". Very comforting!
1976 - 1977 Wellsford
We moved to Wellsford so Ross could do his country service at Rodney College. Soon after we arrived Debbie was born and our lives changed focus as we tried to be good parents. We loved having Debbie as a baby, but she sure was full of energy!
Debbie aged 20 months
1978 - 1983 Warkworth and Snells Beach
We moved to Warkworth so Ross could be Head of Biology at Mahurangi College. We lived in a school house in Warkworth for a while, then bought our own place at Snell's Beach. While we were there Sarah and Philip were born. They were both much more placid than Debbie!
It was great bringing up our children near the beach. They sure had a wonderful childhood!
Sarah 11 months, Debbie 3, with Granny and Grandpa Andersen Phil aged 3 months
Ross continued to preach in local churches, speak at camps and we had a great family-based home group meeting at our house.
Kathy started her interest in crafts at this stage, particularly in fabric painting and was soon a Tri-chem dealer (later on becoming the Wellington Manager for Tri-chem).
At Mahurangi College Ross was responsible for setting up a new horticulture department, complete with classroom, potting room, shadehouse, glasshouse, orchard, vege garden and flower beds. Later on he was a consultant for other schools wanting to set up horticulture departments.
In 1982 Ross started having problems with his voice. He had his vocal cords operated on 3 times and ended up not being able to speak at all. He was on sick leave for a year but there was no way he could continue teaching, preaching, worship leading etc. - things which had been so important in his life up to that point. This was a very difficult time for our family, but we look back on it now as a time of great growth and can see how God used it to lead us on to better things.
November 1982 Phil 1, Sarah 4, and Debbie 7
Ross got a job as a Senior Science teacher at the Correspondence School, which meant he could continue teaching, but did not have to speak (as the Correspondence School's students learn by distance education). The move to Wellington was a great adventure for our family as we knew almost no-one, and had no idea what life in the city was like. We all adapted really well and are now so glad that we were able to live for so long in Wellington.
1986 AOG 1987
We went to Porirua AOG church which is very multi-cultural and we were able to take on significant leadership roles there: Kathy in getting alongside people, and Ross as an elder, pastor, preacher (as his voice gradually returned) and trainer. Ross learned a lot about learning at the Correspondence School and that translated over into his preaching and training programmes. Since then he has focused on communicating in a way that people will learn!
1987 - 2007, Lower Hutt
In 1987 we moved to Lower Hutt and lived there for 20 years. We attended Lower Hutt Baptist Church and with Ross's voice becoming stronger were involved in many different ministry activities. Ross developed and delivered training programmes in many aspects of Church life for Churches, home groups, Bible Colleges and family camps, and was able to get back into his preaching and teaching ministry as well, but with very careful management of his vocal cords!
In Lower Hutt we extended our house and redecorated it a number of times and made major improvements to the garden. People often said it looked like a park!
Kathy worked for 13 years at Soma Medical Centre as their receptionist/administrator and then worked for two and a half years for Dr Hans Snoek. Through this she discovered she was able to learn complex medical computer programmes, and train others in them.
After 7 years at the Correspondence School Ross got a job as Training Manager at The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, at that time New Zealand's largest tertiary teaching organisation. There Ross set up the Staff Training and Development Centre, focused on equipping the polytechnic's staff with the skills needed for effective distance teaching. His work gradually changed over the years and he became more involved in doing revenue generating activities for clients all over the country. He designed and delivered training programmes on a wide range of topics but his major project was to design an assessment system for the retail industry. This took a number of years and involved developing unit standards and qualifications; designing assessment materials; training assessors, and moderating the quality of the assessments that were being carried out. For a number of years Ross was the National Moderator for the Retail Industry Training Organisation.
After 14 years at The Open Polytechnic Ross left and we set up our own business, working from home.
While at the Open Polytechnic Ross delivered papers at many conferences including some overseas. This led to our love of travel and we have been on trips to:
- Australia (many times)
- Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, Japan
- The United States and Canada
- Great Britain, Europe and Scandinavia
- The Middle East (Turkey, Israel, Jordan and Egypt)
- Pacific Islands etc.
Many of these were done on organised bus tours, but in later years we got into cruising. So far we have been on cruises on the Nile (Egypt), and to Alaska, Hawaii, the Pacific islands, the Caribbean, Asia, and around Australia.
Overall, we have visited 75 different countries and more than 40 states in the USA. We feel so blessed to have seen so much of the world.
You can read all about these trips on our family website under Recent travels. You can also watch videos of many of our trips and cruises on our YouTube channel calros3.
2008 on, Paraparaumu Beach
We moved into a new house in Paraparaumu at the beginning of 2008 and, since then, have enjoyed exploring the wonderful beach environment around us, establishing new relationships and beginning a whole new phase in our lives.
We are now retired. This means we have time for our ministry work, and also for voluntary community work. We provide sing-alongs, soirees, travel programmes and Church services for elderly people in our local area. See EntertainKapiti. We also lead a "Youth Group" for energetic seniors which is very rewarding.
Kathy is doing extensive research into various branches of our family (and occasionally doing family history research for other families). This has resulted in some wonderful discoveries, and beautiful relationships with previously unknown family members throughout the world. Following one of these discoveries Ross wrote a book called "Tomorrow I'm going to disappear" which tells the story of Kathy's grandfather Harald Oskar Andersen. You can read the book by clicking here: Tomorrow I'm going to disappear. Harald died over 50 years ago but in an amazing way our family in New Zealand have made contact with the family he left behind in Norway in 1904. This has been one of the most enriching experiences of our lives. Check out our family website for a full account of this and other incredible family history stories!Ross has taken up golf again and still plays quite well. After retiring he got down to 7 but his handicap is gradually rising. He even had a
69, something he hadn't done since 1967, and every now and then beats his age. Kathy
keeps fit by riding her bike and doing aqua-aerobics.
Over the years we have got involved in lots of different areas:
- decorating and landscaping our houses in Snells Beach, Tawa, Lower Hutt and Paraparaumu Beach.
Our back yard in Lower Hutt
- Kathy singing in Barbershop choruses and quartets. She has sung in the US at the International Competitions: in 2003 with Greater Auckland Chorus in Phoenix, and in 2005 with the Kansas City Chorus in Detroit, (where she won a third place medal!). Kathy sang the baritone part and later on, lead. She enjoyed her barbershop 'craft' and always tried to learn more about it. You can watch the Kansas City Chorus rehearsing for the 2007 competitions here: Kansas City Chorus Rehearsal Kathy finished singing barbershop in 2009, and then sang in a community choir. Ross and Kathy now lead singalongs in local rest-homes and retirement villages.
- Taking photos and making family and travel movies. You can watch many of our movies on YouTube. See calros3
- Serving God in various ministries. These have included leading lots of children's camps at CYC; leading home groups; leading ISCF groups in schools; children and youth group ministries; eldership; pastoring; worship leading; preaching in lots of different churches; and, of course, Ross's Bible teaching and training. Ross was also the National Chaplain for Girls Brigade New Zealand for a number of years, providing leadership and designing and delivering training. We ministered at Lower Hutt Church of Christ for a couple of years and were leaders at Gateway Christian Fellowship on the Kapiti Coast for 5 years. Gateway Christian Fellowship
- Nowadays Ross and Kathy lead a home-based fellowship for enthusiastic older people (called Youth Group).
- Ross continues to prepare Bible Studies and put them on this website so feel free to check them out regularly! See Bible Studies
- For more details on our ministry activities, and a reflection on effectiveness in Christian ministry see Ministry.
Ross also spends a lot of his time on a new hobby - making model ships as a legacy for the grand-children.
Videos showing how each model was built are on Ross's calros3 YouTube channel.
In the future we hope to continue to serve the Lord in whatever ways we can, and to continue supporting our family, friends and local community.
We are so grateful to God for His goodness towards us and for His unfailing love. As a family and as a couple, we have had an incredibly blessed life.
We hope you have enjoyed reading our story!
Ross and Kathy Callaghan.
For more details please check out our family website: http://callaghans.yolasite.com