This story first appeared in the NZ Herald.
Sir Peter Leitch is taking a back seat from public life but says he is still a Mad Warriors fan.
Commonly known as The Mad Butcher or Butch, Sir Peter and his wife Lady Janice have moved from their home on Waiheke Island to a retirement village in Auckland.
The first knight of New Zealand Rugby League says his memory is starting to fail him, although his tongue and wit are still sharp as a tack. He’s unsure how long he’s been at the village.
“I’m not sure how long but It’s been a while,” Sir Peter told the Herald.
At 80 years of age, Sir Peter - one of New Zealand’s most-loved Kiwis - is taking it one day at a time. The coarse language - especially when he had the microphone and was roasting fans and players in the Mad Butcher’s Lounge at Mt Smart Stadium, has “almost” gone, but not his zest for people or for life.
He loves the retirement village lifestyle, but says Waiheke is his “happy place” and has kept his residence there.
Facebook posts from Waiheke would feature Sir Peter feeding the seagulls on the beach in front of his home or pictures of what Lady Janice had made him for breakfast, lunch or dinner - or all three.
“I’m 80 mate,” Sir Peter says in his trademark way. “And look, my memory is not that good these days. It’s one of the disadvantages of getting old, in my case anyhow.
“My health is okay, but my memory is not so good.
“I have slowed down a bit. I’m not 21 anymore. I’m enjoying life and I think one of the key things is you’ve got to accept old age.
“You can’t think you’re 21 and go out partying at night, staying up till 4am and getting up at 7am to go to work. You’ve got to accept that you’re getting old.”
Sir Peter says he’s happy to retire gracefully and that forgetting things, such as what he had for dinner yesterday or where he’s going this weekend, is part of accepting that process.
Mind you, he still remembers the $20 I borrowed off him at a busy Sydney bar when we met at the NRL finals in 1997. He also forgets I paid it back.
“Some things you never forget,” Sir Peter laughs.
Born in Wellington in 1944, Sir Peter left school aged 15, on account of his dyslexia - which wasn’t diagnosed until later in life. He worked as a paper boy and then a butcher’s apprentice. At the age of 16 he moved to Auckland to make his mark.
He opened his first butcher store in Māngere East, and became a major sponsor of the Mangere East Rugby Club, which he still has a strong association with.
A friend suggested he needed a marketing gimmick for his radio advertising. Sir Peter recalled someone once called him “that f****** mad butcher” and that has basically stuck with him for life.
“One of the smartest things I did was called myself the Mad Butcher. People used to say, ‘Who’s this idiot calling themselves the Mad Butcher?’”
“The f****** was dropped but the Mad Butcher was born and that was the greatest thing,” Sir Peter says.
At its peak, the Mad Butcher chain had 36 stores and spanned from Whangārei to Dunedin.
“Not bad for a guy who couldn’t read or write,” Sir Peter says, as he points to a framed certificate from his induction to the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.
“Get that, a kid who couldn’t read or write getting inducted into the Business Hall of Fame.
“I’m not the brightest guy in the class and to survive in the business world was incredible.
“My dad was a fitter and turner, but I had no business background. I still don’t know the times tables, and I’m not joking.”
In the 1991 he was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for community service and in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and philanthropy.
His charity work has been inspiring. He is always first to give and support of a number of charities.
“I always believed in giving back,” Sir Peter says.
He says he accepted the knighthood on behalf of the workers of New Zealand.
“I was a working-class boy and accepted the knighthood for all hard-working New Zealanders to show you can make a go of things.
“And I think at the time I said I accept this on behalf of all the people that have supported me and made me who I am, if my memory serves me right.”
He’s met some fabulous people in his lifetime - and a few his memory helps him forget.
“I haven’t met many a***holes to be fair, I’ve met more lovely people,” Sir Peter says.
“I’ve been blessed to have met people like you and wonderful people like [former Best Bets/Friday Flash racing editors] Bob Lovett, Mike Brown and we’ve had some good times. But we could never do now what we did back then. Everything is too PC now.”
Rugby league and the Warriors have always been a big part of Sir Peter’s life. He talks with Warriors coach Andrew Webster most weeks, win or lose. “No comment on last week.”
His rugby league highlight came when he was manager of the New Zealand Kiwis team that beat Australia 24-0 in 2005. A picture of those celebrations hangs in pride of place in his man cave. That same picture was also in the lift at the retirement village.
“That brings back great memories,” he says.
But the best thing he ever did was meet and then marry his wife Janice. The couple’s children and grandchildren - except one who lives in Switzerland - are in Auckland.
“And we’re lucky we’ve had a great life together,” he says.
Sir Peter is still quite active on Facebook and replies to the many hundreds of people who contact him.
His man cave at the retirement village has Warriors, All Blacks and signed Kiwis jerseys along with a lot of other sports memorabilia.
As for what’s ahead for Sir Peter: “I’ll just take each day as it comes because at my age, 80, you don’t know what’s around the corner and we just got to take care of each other.”