Striking Tributes to Late Mrs Fraser

Manawatu Times, Volume 70, Issue 58, 9 March 1945, Page 4

Striking Tributes to Late Mrs Fraser

Over 1000 Messages of Sympathy (Per Press Association ) WELLINGTON, March h. Over 1000 messages of sympathy, many of them cabled from overseas Were received to-day by the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser). They included: From the King: “The (jueeu aud I have heard with great regret the news of Mrs. Fraser’s death. We send vou our sincere sympathy in your irreparable loss.” From Mr. and Mrs. Churchill: ‘ ‘Mrs. Churchill and I send you our profound* sympathy in your most grievous loss.” From Lord and Lady Cranbora*; “My wife and I send our deeimst sympathy to you in your grievous sorrow. Having met Mrs. Fraser we can understand how terrible is youloss. We think of you so much.” “The Maori race mourns the loss of Mrs. Fraser, known throughout Maoridom as Te Whaea O Tc Katoa, the mother of all,” stated Hon. E. T. Tirikatene, member of the Executive Council, representing the race, in a tribute to-day. As a tribute to the Kokotangi-Wai, the greenstone jewel of a great; woman’s memory, a representative of the party of Maori elders visited the Prime Minister in his room at Parliament House this morning and later went to Lewisham Hospital. There the party was met by the Prime Minister, the Mother Superior and other members of the hospital nursing staff. On entering the w hare mate (where Jay the remains of Mrs. Fraser) the sacred lament, of the Maori, “Powhiri,” was chanted by Mrs. Heketa. Following this tributes were paid by Mr. Tirikatene and other Maori speakers. They all emphasised the great work of Mrs. Fraser on behalf of the Maori race in her association with the various Maori women’s organisations throughout New Zealand, especially in her close association with the Ngati Poneke Maori Club in which she was an acknowledged leader. The speakers also referred to the noble sacrifice made by Mrs. Fraser for the welfare of others and paid tribute to the fact that although in her visits overseas she had met leading world figures she never forgot the Maori people. They said Mrs. Fraser was an inspiration to Maori women all over the Dominion.

The Ngati Poneke Maori Association has expressed a desire to sing a Maori hymn at the graveside on Saturday. Other messages include those from the Governor-General and Lady Newall, General Frevberg, Messrs. Forde and Menzies and Dr. Evatt (Australia;, representatives of the Empire and Allied countries, church dignitaries, service personnel, Ministers of the Crown and members of parliament, local bodies and many other individuals and institutions. Moving Tribute From Allied Countries “As senior official representative in New Zealand of the European Allied countries which have been aud still are being tortured and oppressed by the Nazi and Fascist invader*, may 1 on behalf of my colleagues and of the nationals of Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Yugoslavia, as well as the Belgians and Luxemburgers resident in New Zealand, express my sincere and deep regrets on the sad occasion of the death of Mrs. Fraser,” said the ConsulGeneral for Belgium (Mr. Nihottc) in a statement to-day. “Mrs. Fraser was the living embodiment of the virtue of charity, which is more than all the other virtues, the indispensable cement of human society. “As a defender of the people and a benefactor of humanity, Mrs. Fraser 'was naturally concerned about the fate of the suffering millions trampled down and enslaved by a cruel and. ruthless enemy. Towards them her.charity was not empty of love, nor was her feeling of brotherhood towards them limited to lip service. It is enough to mention r.s an example of her practical philanthropy and sympathy that ivm on her personal initiative that New Zealand undertook to shelter and care for hundreds of Polish orphans. To the Prime Minister, whose loss is indeed irreparable because in the fulfilment of his heavy task he will no longer have at his side a loving and faithFJ companion who understood and supported him so well, we offer our most profund sympathy and our most sincere condolences. May this inadequate but genuine international tribute bring some slight consolation to Mrs. Fraser’s sorrowing husband and to her son.” The funeral service in respect of the late Mrs. Fraser will be held in Hi. John’s Church, Wellington, to-morrow at 10 a.m. Arrangements have been made for floral tributes to be received at Parliament House, Wellington, from uoon to-day until 8.30 a.m. to-morrow. It is specially requested that floral tributes be not sent to St. John s Church.