HAERE KI O KOUTOU TIPUNA

Mr Philip Samuel The death has occurred of Mr Philip Samuel, a Maori evangelist and elder of the Morrinsville district. Known to fellow Maoris as Weka and to Morrinsville's older identities as Billy Samuel, he began in 1931 to preach the gospel to members of his race in Morrinsville and later in all parts of New Zealand. He played an important part in taking Christianity into Maori homes, and witnessed the transformation from squalid living conditions to homes established in new houses. The burial took place in Rukumoana Cemetery where, as a last tribute, the hundreds of Maoris representing Dominion-wide tribes sang the hymn “How Great Thou Art.”

Mrs N. R. Mitchell Mrs Nataria Rangimangeo Mitchell, 75, wife of Mr J. Z. Mitchell, died last December at Ohinemutu. She was the daughter of Rotohiko Tangonui Haupapa and Te Ririu Hamuera Pango, both of the Ngati-Tunohopu clan of Ngati-Whakaue. Her father was instrumental in having the education reserves in Rotorua and was the only Maori to sit on both the Rotorua Town Board and the Pukeroa Hill Trustees Board. Both traced descent to those who came from the seven canoes of the last migration from Hawaiiki and were well known in the Arawa Confederation of Tribes domain. She was the mother of Mrs Witarina Harris, Wellington, Mrs Francis Taylor, Otaki, Mr Hamuera Mitchell, Mrs Peggy Morrison and Mr Sonny Mitchell, Rotorua.

Mrs M. Te Rangi Mrs Maraina Heke Te Rangi died recently at Whangarei. She was a descendant of the Ngatiwhatuia tribe and a chieftainess in her own right. Born in the Kaipara district, Mrs Te Rangi lived most of her life in the Mangakahia district, where she farmed with her late husband. She was a prominent social worker among the Maori community and a staunch supporter of the Church of England.

Mrs Emma Weepu A former well-known resident of the Arahura Pa, Westland, Mrs Emma Weepu, died in Wellington recently at the age of 71 years. Born at Arahura, she was the second daughter of the late Chief Hoanui and Emma Tainui. She lived at the Arahura Pa until she left to reside in Wellington five years ago. Her husband, Mr Iahia Weepu, known mostly as Dick Webb, pre-deceased her two years ago. Mrs Weepu is survived by two daughters, Nellie (Arahura) and Eli (Wellington) and four sons, Hoani (Chief) Nokitika; Dinny (Craigieburn), Bill and Tom (Wellington), and the late Bob, Sam, Fred and John were also sons. There are also 21 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Mr Rikihana Carkeek Mr Rikihana (Bunny) Carkeek, a prominent leader of the Ngati Raukawa tribe of Otaki, died at his home in Otaki last January. He was 73 years of age. The tangi was held at Raukawa marae and the funeral service at Rangiatea Church, Otaki. Mr Carkeek was a veteran of the First World War, in which he was a lieutenant in the Maori Pioneer Battalion. Prominent in both Maori and civic affairs in Otaki, he was a steward of the Otaki Maori Racing Club and was a leading member of most Maori organisations in the district.

Mr Hokimate Fox One of the best known leaders of the Ngati Porou tribe in recent times, Mr Hokimate Fox, Waipiro Bay, East Coast, died at Te Puia Hospital last December. Mr Fox was a first cousin to the late Sir Apirana Ngata. He was a noted leader in county and Maori affairs and was a well known sheep and dairy farmer. Mr Fox was chairman of the Ngatiporou Dairy Company's Directorate for the past six years, a member of the Waiapu County Council, chairman of the Hikurangi South Tribal Committee, and a member of the Ngata Memorial College board of governors. He is survived by his widow, two sons and six daughters.