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Turning 89 next month, Napier’s Max Richards isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
While many his age are long retired, Max still stacks shelves at Pak’nSave Napier, walks everywhere, lives independently, and greets customers with the same warmth and energy that’s carried him through nearly nine decades of heartbreak, hard work and resilience.
Born during the Great Depression in Christchurch, Max grew up in a modest household where survival meant sacrifice. His mother hand-sewed carpets until her fingers cracked, while making sure there was always soup waiting on the fire when he returned from school.
“We were never hungry,” Max recalls. “People just got on with life back then.”
Life wasn’t always kind.
His parents separated when he was young. Years later, after finally tracking down his estranged father in Taupō, the reunion was painfully cold.
“I told him, ‘I’m your son, Max.’ And after all those years, he still charged me for two caps from his shop.”
But Max never let bitterness define him.
Instead, he built businesses, raised children, sold concrete products, worked for Johnson & Johnson’s veterinary division, survived divorces, financial setbacks and loneliness — all while staying relentlessly optimistic.
“I love people,” he says. “If someone knocks you down, you get back up. You keep going.”
That attitude still shines today at Pak’nSave Napier, where customers know Max as more than just a worker. He chats with shoppers, helps elderly customers find groceries, shares turmeric remedies for aching knees, and treats strangers like old friends.
“Every time you help someone properly, you’ve made another friend.”
Despite once owning valuable Napier beachfront property that would later sell for millions, Max says life choices — especially marriages and separations — meant he never built major wealth.
Today, he rents a simple unit for $300 a week, enjoys long walks, visits his first wife in a care home, and still worries more about his children than himself.
His philosophy?
“Don’t live with regrets. If you start every day in a bad mood, you’ll ruin your life. Stay positive. Keep moving.”
At nearly 89 years old, Max Richards may not call himself extraordinary.
But in a world obsessed with slowing down, comfort and retirement, his story is a powerful reminder that purpose, resilience and kindness never grow old.