Tribute to Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts DNZM CBE JP

E te Kahurangi,

E te māngai kaha,

He uri o Ngāi Tūāhuriri, o ngā wai o Waimakariri, o Maukatere e tū ake ki tēnei whenua.      

E te Taua, Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts, kua tukuna tō wairua ki te taha tūpuna,

Nō reira, whiua o tohu ki tai o te moana,

Whakangaro atu ai taku kura ki au e, taukiri te mamae!

 

It is with a heavy heart that Te Puawaitanga ki Ōtautahi Trust acknowledges the passing of our beloved kaumatua Taua Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts.

 

Dame Aroha was a celebrated leader, a teacher, and a tireless advocate for change. We are grateful to Dame Aroha for establishing the Trust. Her vision of a better life for Māori women and their whānau will continue to be our source of inspiration.

 

Through the decades, Dame Aroha maintained a close relationship between the Trust and the Ōtautahi branch of the Māori Women’s Welfare League. We are thankful for her role in our early years as the first manager of the Trust, and for the decades that followed, when she walked alongside us, coaching, and helping us blossom into the organisation we are today.

 

We will miss her dearly. Our thoughts are with her whānau and friends. Her tangi will be held at Tuahiwi Marae. Her funeral service will be Tuesday 24th May, at 1pm, followed by her burial at Te Uruti Urupā.

 

Ko tō tātou nei Taua, te whakatinanatanga o te whakataukī “Me aro koe ki te haa o Hineahuone”

Moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā e Taua.