Lady Miria Pomare, O.B.E.

Te Ao Hou, 1973, Page 4

Lady Miria Pomare, O.B.E. Many hundreds paid tribute to Lady Pomare in services at St. Paul's Cathedral. Ngati Poneke Hall, Rangiatea Church at Otaki. and at Manukorihi Pa, where her ashes were laid beside those of her husband Sir Maui Pomare, a much-loved doctor and the only Maori ever to be Minister of Health, and her two sons Te Rakahera and Te Naera. Aged 94, Lady Pomare outlived her husband by 41 years. Their three children also predeceased her. One of the founders of the Ngati Poneke Maori Association, she remained its patroness until her death. During her long life she worked hard for many welfare organisations, and held office in more than 20. Speaking at St. Paul's, with his text Psalm 90 v. 1, ‘The Lord hath been our refuge from generation to generation’, the Bishop of Aotearoa, the Rt Rev. Manu Bennett said, ‘She is the last of a generation—one that blazed the trail to the new world. She stood behind a very great statesman of his time. She was a woman of great personal dignity, and never seemed to get older. She had the quality of a gracious lady, an aura; when she came into a room, you knew she was there.’ He said she was a perfect example of the saying ‘Every man is born between two generations. From one he receives. To the other he gives. He is the connecting link in the continuity of the species.’