Dave Feickert grew up in Whanganui along with two brothers and two sisters. His marine engineer father met his English mother during the war. Dave went to Westmere primary school, Wanganui Intermediate and then Wanganui Technical College, later Boys College and now City College. At school he played rugby and soccer and was captain of the rowing eight. A third generation Kiwi, he comes from a very large family of German, English and French descent. Dave knows the importance of language and is proud of the fact that his daughter, Sonia and wife, Marina are excellent linguists, much better than him.
Dave Feickert won China’s Friendship Prize for Foreign Experts in 2009, along with another Kiwi, Lewis Dagger. Only 11 New Zealanders have won this prize, one of these being Dave’s farmer brother, Peter, who was awarded the prize in 1998. Dave received the prize for his work, helping to improve coal mine safety and health in China’s accident prone mines. He and other foreign advisers have helped to cut the accident rate by 70% in the last five years, but there is still some way to go.
