Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark’s grandson has died.
He received the news on Tuesday, the Invercaragill City Council confirmed in a statement.
The mayor would be travelling out of town to be with his family.
The loss comes at an already brutal time for Clark, whose handling of a complaint of sexual harassment against one of his councillors, Nigel Skelt, has been in the headlines this week.
Clark himself was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last year – not regarded as life-threatening if tended to – and Stuff reported that his family had been assailed by cancer during the years.
A report in March 2022 noted that his father died of cancer, as did a daughter, while another of his daughters had cancer, as did a grandson and great-grandson.
A brief statement from the council added that deputy mayor Tom Campbell would take his place at a tree planting ceremony on Saturday to mark the coronation of King Charles III.
