Ron Lycette

Ronald Ernest Lycette was born in Levin, New Zealand on 21 July 1936. He attended Horowhenua College before leaving in 1953 to take up an apprenticeship in horticulture at Duncan & Davies Ltd, Nurserymen, in New Plymouth. He received training in all branches of commercial horticulture including propagation, production, and care and maintenance of nursery stock. He then transferred to the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch where he completed his apprenticeship and gained a Diploma in Horticulture. 

In 1958 he travelled to South Africa where he worked as a horticulturalist in the Parks and Community Services Department of the Johannesburg City Council. During his time in Africa he was seconded to work with the University of Witswatersrand researching the flora of the Inhaca Island, Mozambique, and different areas of Transvaal. As part of this work he collected and identified herbarium material as well as collecting living material for "The Wilds", the Johannesburg indigenous plant garden. 

In March 1960 he left Africa for London where he worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He also commenced university studies in geology, geography, botany, and art. In 1963 he joined the scientific staff at the Department of Economic Botany and Museums at Kew. In this role he was involved in the identification of seeds and plant material, especially relating to economic plants, and he researched the origin and development of crop plants, and medicinal and drug plants. 

Ron met and married his wife Jean while in England and they had five children. Jean was also an horticulturalist and trained at Studley Agricultural College in Warwickshire, England. She became an instructor at Waterperry Horticultural School and was then employed by the United Nations Agency on instruction in modern horticultural techniques in Epierus Western Greece. 

In 1966 he applied for the role of Supervisor of Grounds at the newly established University of Waikato, in Hamilton, New Zealand. He was successful but before moving to New Zealand, he spent three months in specialised training in England, gaining experience in maintaining sports fields and playing grounds.

Ron and his family arrived in Hamilton in August 1966. The university had officially opened in 1964 and while there was a plan for the required buildings on campus, the actual site was completely undeveloped. During his time at the university, Ron developed the 50-hectare site, including designing an overall landscaping scheme, planting, landscaping, building several lakes, and creating two sports fields for cricket, rugby, soccer, and hockey. He supervised multiple staff and at times also gave lectures about horticultural topics. 

Ron left the university in 1980 to head to Australia, where he took up the role of Grounds Curator at the University of Melbourne. He returned to Hamilton on numerous occasions, including to give a lecture as part of the University of Waikato's 50th anniversary celebrations in 2014. 

Ron died in Bacchus Marsh, near Melbourne, Australia in November 2023.