Ōtaki Today received an intriguing enquiry recently from Jennifer Dyer on the Isle of Wight, who is seeking Denise Peacock (nee Edgar), an  old school friend who Jennifer has not seen for 60 years.

“I last heard from her in 1998 and she was living at 6 Waerenga Road, Ōtaki,” Jennifer wrote. ”I would love to find her again. Could your newspaper help?”

Jennifer and Denise both grew up in England and were best friends at school. However, they lost contact when Denise emigrated to New Zealand and Jennifer eventually moved to Cyprus, and later to the Isle of Wight.

They renewed contact briefly when Denise found Jennifer through the local paper on the Isle of Wight, but they again lost touch.

 “Now the tables have turned and it is my turn to try and trace her,” Jennifer says. 

According to Jennifer, Denise, husband Tom and their two boys, Kevin and Jon, moved to New Zealand in 1972. They lived in Wellington for 18 years and then moved to Keri Keri in the Bay of Islands where they bought a cafe called The Food Affair.  They ran that for a few years then moved to Waerenga Road in Ōtaki, which would have been in the late 1990s.

Jennifer says Denise and Tom divorced, but one of the sons is possibly still in Wellington.

“My brother and his wife visited Denise in the year 2000 and she was still in Ōtaki,” Jennifer says. “They seem to think that she moved to Wellington to be near her son. If she moved to Ōtaki in 1998 she would have been 52 or 53 years old.”

If you have any information about Denise Peacock, please contact us at Ōtaki Today – ian@idmedia.co.nz or 027 2411 090