Baden Pere

Tu Tangata, Issue 25, 1 August 1985, Page 57

Baden Pere

By Rakapa Sturm

Kupu whakamihi

After twenty years living in Hawaii, Baden Pere has joined the administrative staff of the United States International University. For one year he will be in London at the International University Europe. The university maintains four international campuses in England, Kenya, Mexico and the United States. Baden will be in London for one year, and all students are encouraged to attend more than one location. The United States campus is in San Diego. He will be the representative in Europe but before taking up the appointment he will travel through Asia, to try to establish a campus in the Philippines and Malaysia. The campus of International University Europe is on an estate of 95 acres 16 miles north of central London, and only a few miles from Oxford and Cambridge and London Universities.

Baden trained as a jet fighter pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Korean War. Baden then was only 16 and he graduated after the cease fire.

He joined the 14th squadron in Cyprus in 1954. He flew all over North Africa based in the Suez Canal Zone, and later transferred to Singapore in 1955. As a squadron leader he taught the next generation for Vietnam service.

Baden attended Auckland Teachers College and graduated from Brigham Young University Hawaii Campus, which was known as Church College of Hawaii then. Continuing on at University of Hawaii he gained his BSc and MA in Political Overseas Operations in 1963.

The Hon Wi Pere MP (1837-1915) was Baden's grandfather. Born in Wairoa and raised in Gisborne, Baden is of Kahungungu, Rongowhakaata Te Aitanga a Mahaki. He also tried unsuccessfully as the National Candidate against Whetu Tirikatene Sullivan in 1966.

Baden has always enjoyed being committed to community service and university organisations. He has now had extensive experience in many programmes, eg for the US Military orientation education extension programme into the state school systems. As the director of Cultural Education for the Polynesian Cultural Center he coordinated the team teaching People

of Polynesia classes at the Brigham Young University Hawaii Campus which is adjacent and on other local university campuses from 1978-1982. Polynesian culture and craft classes were under his supervision.

Prior to this he had a special assignment to return to New Zealand in 1973 to become the Mission President for the Auckland New Zealand Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He and his wife Vernice Wineera Pere and seven children lived in Auckland. As Mission President he was responsible for 500 LDS Missionaries assigned to that mission to train and supervise them in self management skills for proselyting purposes. He also presided over his own hometown as well.

But he remarked that this is a very interesting situation “... the missionaries from England were responsible to help establish Christianity and now a Maori was returning to add to this work.” As a rule most men selected for this role come from the USA to serve in Aotearoa.

Recently he was the Temple recorder for the LDS Hawaii Temple in Laie. The making and administrative management of the budget and inventories, paid personnel and assistance with the volunteer staff of 300 was his direct responsibility.