Waha T. Elkington

Tu Tangata, Issue 25, 1 August 1985, Page 56

Waha T. Elkington

By Barbara Elkington, his wife

Kupu whakamihi

Waha Tupaea Elkington was born May 26, 1937 in Tuakau, New Zealand, the 14th child in the Tupaea family. As a very small infant, he was given in adoption to John Arthur and Wete Kia Elkington who took him to the South Island where he was raised as the youngest child in their family. Because of this adoption, he grew up as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a very important influence on his later life.

As a child, he lived with his adopted parents on D’Urville Island, leading a life close to the land and the sea. He remembers seeing wild pigs and deer and helping catch fish and shellfish. He was educated at home by his mother who taught him at an early age to recite his family’s geneaology back to the Tainui Canoe. He still treasures a family journal in which he recorded this record as his mother taught him to write.

In his teenage years, he lived for a time in Nelson with his extended family, spending time with aunties, uncles and cousins. At that time his mother was paralyzed and in a wheelchair and Waha took care of her part of the time. He attended school in Nelson; remembering what it was like to be the only Maori in his school at the time, he tells of wishing he too could have a bicycle and waiting at the school gate to push

the other boys’ bikes to the rack where they were stored during school hours. He attended Te Aute College for a short time until ill health made it impossible for him to continue. Back in Nelson he worked for a time on the docks, at the freezing works and at the local brick plant. An opportunity to go on a labour or building mission for the Mormon Church was the first of many doors which would open for him. While on a mission, he helped in the construction of chapels for the LDS Church and in the building of the Church College of New Zealand at Hamilton. During this time he learned brick laying and other skills. In 1960 a second great opportunity arose while he was serving his second building mission. He was asked to travel to Hawaii with a group of Maori missionaries to help in the construction of the Polynesian Cultural Center and Church College of Hawaii, both in Laie, Hawaii. From June 1960, to November 1963, he helped in the construction of CCH and the PCC, continuing to add to his skills and knowledge in construction. For a part of the time, he operated the crane, a job which he thoroughly enjoyed because of the responsibility and challenge. Near the end of his misson, just before time to return to New Zealand, he won a scholarship to attend CCH during a speech contest. He decided to stay for a semester and try university life in the United States. In the spring of 1964, he met his wife, Barbara, a native of Oregon, USA, and they were married in the Hawaii Temple of the LDS Church in September of 1964. He continued in school, completing his Bachelor’s Degree at CCH in 1969 and going on to earn his Master’s Degree from Brigham Young University in Provo in 1970. He majored in Speech and English.

Returning to Laie, Waha worked for the maintenance department of the university for a time and then established himself slowly in the community as a builder. Presently he is self-employed, building houses, doing block and concrete work and remodeling. His wife works as an English teacher at the university. They have six children: Ruthann Wetekia, a sophomore at Brigham Young University Hawaii Campus (formerly CCH); John Joseph, a senior at Kahuku High School; David Rongotoa, in the eighth grade at Kahuku school; Maria Tuo, in the sixth grade at Laie elementary school; Elizabeth Marara, in the third grade; and Turi Ruruku, in the first grade. Waha is very interested and concerned in seeing his children grow and learn. He said, “it is a blessing to see our oldest daughter attending the university which I was able to help build as a labour missionary.” He tries not to miss an activity in which his children take part. For example, for May Day, a day in Hawaii for celebrating with music and dancing, he left his work to spend a couple of hours at the Laie grade school, watching his three youngest children take part in a programme. To surprise his son, John, who had gone with the Kahuku High School Marching Band to perform on the island of Maui about 200 miles from Oahu, Waha and his wife thought up a scheme to fly secretly to follow the band and be present for one of their performances. “It was really fun to sit in the audience and see John’s face when he spotted us in the crowd,” Waha said. It was such fun, he did the same thing for daughter Kia who travelled to Kauai to play in a brass quintet with the BYU-HC acapella choir. That time he and Barbara were waiting in

the lobby of the Waiohai hotel for the group to arrive.

Activity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a constant in Waha’s life, and he has held many positions, with an emphasis on teaching the youth. Working with boys in the Boy Scouts of America, a programme affiliated with the LDS Church, has been a part of Waha’s life for many years.

It began in the late 1960’s when he was asked to be an assistant scout-mas-ter. He remembers a campout at which it rained hard, hearing a loud ripping sound and watching the scoutmaster as his hammock split across the bottom and deposited the man on the wet ground. Since then, Waha has served as a scouting co-ordinator, committee chairman, explorer leader, Varsity Coach, and scoutmaster of two church affiliated troops. As an explorer leader in 1970 he spearheaded a fundraising drive which resulted in 16 boys taking a month-long tour of nine western states.

While surviving as scoutmaster of a multi-national troop Waha worked with boys from Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand, and Ponopee. Eight of the boys earned their Eagle Scout Award (The American equivalent of the Queen Scout Award). Presently he is working with a group of scouts in Troop 70, Laie Second Ward, a unit where some 20 or more boys who have earned their Eagle awards, credit Waha for helping them achieve this great goal.

In 1981 he served as an assistant scoutmaster with the Hawaii contingent to the United States National Jamboree in Virginia and he is presently preparing to repeat this trip in July 1985. He has been instrumental in recruiting some 20 boys to make up a troop which will visit New York City, Washington D.C. and other landmarks as well as spend nine days with some 35,000 other USA and foreign scouts. In 1983, Waha went to Canada to the International Scout Jamboree and hopes to be a leader for the Hawaii troop to the International Jamboree in Australia in 1987. His son, John, has been on the trips to Virginia and Canada, and both John and David are going this year with their father. David is also looking forward to Australia.

“By working with boys, a person can make a difference to the future. Very few Eagle Scouts turn into juvenile delinquents or criminals,” Waha frequently points out. Recognition of his work with the Boy Scouts has resulted in his receiving various awards, most recently the Silver Beaver, one of the highest awards given to adult participants in the Boys Scouts of America programme.

Waha has travelled far and had many opportunities. He feels they have resulted from his willingness to serve, and most especially from his service as a member of the Mormon Church.