Mr Roche, a successful businessman who left a huge mark in the Hunter, has been remembered as a determined, insightful and considerate man following his death at age 87.

His daughter Clare Roche told the Newcastle Herald that her dad was "very self-deprecating and humble".

"He was a thorough gentleman, but very cheeky. He always had a twinkle in his eye," Clare said. "He had the ability to make anybody, no matter who they were, feel like the most important person in the room. That was a magic touch that Dad had."

She said her dad was "quite a character" and liked to be known as "Bill", rather than Mr Roche.

Bill and his wife Imelda established Nutrimetics in Australia in 1968 with a small investment. They sold the skincare and cosmetics company to Sara Lee in 1997.

The couple also own Roche Group, a property development company that includes Roche Estate, Hunter Valley Gardens and Harrigan's Irish Pub in Pokolbin, along with Cameron Grove Estate in Cameron Park.

"Dad was always in property development. That was his real passion. That ran in parallel to Nutrimetics," Clare said.

The self-made couple's wealth has been estimated at $1.5 billion.

Bill was born in Ryde and his family came from Harden-Murrumburrah, near Young in south-west NSW.

"His father died when he was nine. His vision was quite extraordinary when you think he didn't have a father figure," Clare said.

"He left school at 15. One of his best lines was, imagine what he could have done with himself if he had a few more years of school."

The Roches have four children and 13 grandchildren.

Hunter leader and businessman Will Creedon helped develop Harrigan's Pub and Hunter Valley Gardens, after a chance meeting with the Roches at a barbecue in Balmain in 2000.

Bill became his friend and mentor.

Mr Creedon often witnessed people approach Bill and "talk to him fondly about the Nutrimetics days and how he and Imelda changed them and their children's lives".

"I cannot tell you how many times stuff like that happened," he said.

He said Bill used nature to "brighten people's lives".

"Everywhere he went, he'd put flowers and landscaping. He beautified everything and that brought optimism. He used to have a saying that 'we all need to bring a piece of sunshine mountain to our lives'.

"He was an extraordinary man. He was a big-picture thinker. He was very gentle, extremely considerate and insightful and unbelievably determined."

The Roches began the Hunter Valley Gardens project at Pokolbin in 1997. It opened in 2003. More than $80 million has since been invested in the gardens.

Bill had a long-held ambition to build a garden that would bring families together and be enjoyed by generations to come.

"Gardens provide a counter to the many pressures of day-to-day living. The spiritual experience of getting back to nature and into gardens is very rewarding," he once said.

Bill was inspired by the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island in Canada.

"Dad was there over 30 years ago. He stood in the middle of those gardens and said to my mother, 'One day I'm going to build something like that for Australia'. Mum just walked on," Clare Roche said with a laugh.

This story originally appeared on the Newcastle Herald

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