Ayley - a British citizen who'd lived here since he was two - was studying chemical engineering at Massey University.

It was a big step for the "fun-loving" father who had traded in his boy racer wheels for a red station wagon - his "family man car" - when he married Sharlene.

He left school at 16 and had worked minimum wage jobs ever since, first at McDonald's, as a horticulturalist and a "sort of" cheese-maker at Kapiti Cheeses.

He decided to get an education for his family.

Ayley also loved rottweiler dogs and was travelling to see some. The inspiration to breed the dogs with a pure blood line and good temperament came from his first rottweiler Madison who he'd had since she was a puppy. She now sits docilely at Wendie's feet at the Tawa home.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11296291