"He still has visitors all the time and we are still very active in his care." 

Hopkins said Hilda Ross had provided excellent care and the staff were "marvellous".

"It was just one of those unfortunate things."

A spokesman for Ryman Healthcare, which runs the Hilda Ross home, said it was a "tragic and rare set of circumstances".

"We've been providing care for people for 35 years and we'd never had an incident this serious before. It was devastating for the families and our staff."

The company had undertaken a review with the Waikato District Health Board, the Health and Disability Commission and an independent psycho-geriatrician.

"We've reviewed our training and policies in handling incidents of resident aggression.

"We've provided additional training and updated our emergency protocols."

Hopkins said her father was born in Somerset, England, in 1919 and moved to New Zealand when he was about four, living in Wellington and then Whanganui.

He farmed near Marton for a while, then joined the railway. He did not serve during the Second World War because his job was deemed an essential service.

Hewgill worked his way up to become a locomotive supervisor based in Auckland.

His wife, Nell, who he married in 1941, died in 2005. After he had a fall he moved to Hamilton to be closer to Hopkins, his only child.

Hopkins said he moved to a townhouse at the Hilda Ross village at the end of 2017 and was later put in a more secure wing because he was wandering.