Joe Gasparich, an enterprising survivor from Gallipoli

Joe was born in 1890, the eldest of seven children, in Kaihu, a small town out of Dargaville, in the north of Auckland. He was the son of an Austrian boatman born in what is now Croatia, who had deserted ship in Auckland, and who had become a railway platelayer. After attending the local country school, Joe came with his family to Kingsland, Auckland, and became a pupil teacher. Naturally talented in rugby, cricket, athletics, tennis, and swimming, he readily found great success in teaching schoolchildren. He was sent back to the north to serve as a pupil teacher in Hauhora, near Whangarei, and on his return to Auckland in 1907 passed the Junior Civil Service examination, and then entered teachers' training college. Then he was sent to Taumarunui School, where he passed a national competitive examination in drawing with a first class pass.