Pipiwharauroa He Raumahara
Pam Paenga
Te kurupounamu ō te iwi Te māreikura o tō whānau Ō tō pāharakeke reanga nui Kua pakeke, kua tōtika kāre koe e māharahara Nō rātou te ao Tika tonu kia whakatā koe. Ahakoa ka koingo, ahakoa te mamae E kore e tāea te pēhea Okioki, whakatā Kei konā tō rahi, tō nui. Tō waimarie marika! Whakatā
Peehi Pamela Wikitoria Paenga was born on the 23rd day of March 1926, a daughter to Petera Te Hiwirori and Te Ataarangi Maynard nee Heperi from Takapau. Nan’s mother died when she was just three or four years old and she and her sisters Rangi and Venus and brothers Hiwi and Anthony went to live with an Aunty to her father, Tiakiwhare Brown who was not of the same Brown whānau as her Aunty Tai Brown at Muriwai. Nan’s mother was, from the memories of others, a very gentle and loved woman in Manutuke and both Rongowhakaata and Ngāi Tāmanuhiri passed that love on to her surviving children. According to Nana, she had eight or nine siblings. Of those, her sisters Rangi, and Venus and brother Hiwi lived relatively longer lives, while the others died as babies or young children including Anthony. For a while, Nana, Koro Hiwi and Anthony were cared for by their father and 16 year old sister Venus whose line, according to Nana, was wharengaro. For that reason, when she was only about five or six years old, she and her brother Anthony, who was sick at the time, were sent to Anaura Bay to be cared for and spoilt by their Nannies Tureiti, Te Ra and Rewarewa. She started school at Mangatuna School in about Primer 3 and stayed there until she reached the Standards, there were only two school rooms. Without any clocks in the house, Nan was unsure how her nannies knew what time to send them off to school in the mornings but she does remember having time to play as she did not have any chores to do. While she was meant to be a friend for her sickly brother Anthony, she did admit to not recalling too much about him, instead spending more time with her cousin Teddy Henry getting into mischief. Coming back from Anaura Bay, Nan went to live at Muriwai with Nanny Tai Brown, her father’s sister where she loved the carefree life, playing with the other children at the beach all day and eating with her cousins whenever they were hungry. She often wondered how Nanny Tai fitted her in as she had a large family of her own but reckons those were the best days of her childhood, probably because she had the freedom and was just as spoilt in Manutuke and Muriwai as she had been in Anaura Bay.
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social events together and their friendship extended to Ngaro’s husband Richard and their children, our cousins. Richard’s father was a younger brother to my Pop's grandmother, Elizabeth Milner.
Nan lived in Whangārā from the time she married Pop, Rauna Paenga on the 15th of January 1949. She established wonderful relationships and had many good times with Aunty Tawai Te Purei, Aunty Tatai Munroe, Aunty Massey Te Kani and Aunty Hine Haapu, nee Kingi just to name a few. In the later decades of her life her BFF was our lovely Aunty Ema Te Kani. Nan often travelled to Takapau to spend time with her sister Waireia Hanita and the wider Heperi whanau where she attended weddings, tangi and other whānau hui, whenever possible with my aunties and uncles including Papa Hiwi's children. She maintained a very close connection to her mother’s side referring affectionately to them as "the Takapau whānau.” Kei te mihi arohanui to our whānau who travelled to Whangārā bringing the wairua of our Ngāi Tahu tipuna with you. Despite spending the majority of her adult life with Ngāti Konohi Nan remained staunchly Rongowhakaata. She expressed a wish that when she passed that she lay one night on Whakatō Marae, a wish that her nieces Drina Hawea and Tui Ferris reminded the whānau about. According to whaikōrereo at Whakatō Nan was quite possibly the oldest member of Rongowhakaata at the time of her passing. Nan and Pop had 11 children, Aunty Nan, Uncle Keith, Uncle Zac, my Mum Liz, Uncle John, Uncle Major, Aunty Irene, Uncle Boy, Uncle Tab, Uncle Rauna who passed away in 1986 and Aunty Awhina as well as Aunty Te Rangi White who we also include in our whānau. They have 21 grandchildren, Keith being the eldest and Saia, at 13 years, is the youngest and also the tallest and largest.
Nan's 70th Birthday in Wellington with some of her grandchildren. Back: L to R Thomas Paenga, Raniera Paenga, Martin Albert Front:L to R Manu Niwa, Nana, Pamela Albert
and that support branched out to their mokopuna, many of whom have the same competitive fire as their parents. Pop and Nana were fully involved in polocrosse and horse sports, they raised a number of horses and attended many carnivals over the years supporting their children and mokopuna as well as the many other family members. Our whānau were humbled by just how much my grandmother was loved which was re-enforced by those who supported us at the time of her passing and encapsulated just how much Nan loved her whānau. Over the year we celebrate a number of birthdays and anniversaries. Nan ensured that all of these occasions will continue to be celebrated joyously Nan at the Ahuwhenua when she passed away on Trophy Awards - Rotorua the 5th of January 2017 at 2007 the homestead that she and Pop had shared for 63 years, the day after Uncle Keith’s birthday and she was buried the day before mokopuna tuarua Valerie’s birthday.
While it was sad, it was appropriate that Nan passed away at the conclusion of a They have 24 great church service surrounded by grandchildren, Valerie her family, both Rongowhakaata is the eldest at 24 years and Ngāti Konohi. My Dad's and Tenahya Pamela, cousin Howie had earlier said to the youngest at nine my Mum Liz, “cuz the Mustangs” months. Nan had the with a huge grin. Nana was opportunity to spend strongly religious and in one quality time with her particular bible she had written Nan's 80th Birthday – RSA Gisborne children, mokopuna Nanny Kui Emmerson, Nanny Ema Te Kani, Koro Darcy Ria the dates of her wedding and the and mokopuna tuarua and Nanny Heni Sunderland births of each of her children who returned to and some of her grandchildren. She later received celebrate her 90th birthday last March. It was the a birthday book as a Christmas present in which she first time all of her children had come together since religiously recorded the birthdays of her children, Uncle Rauna passed away, a reunion 30 years in the grandchildren, great-grandchildren, godchildren, making. Part of her birthday celebration included a nieces and nephews. morning tea at the Museum Café where Nan received many birthday wishes, gifts, flowers and a mayoral Nan’s greatest wish for her children and mokopuna certificate acknowledging her 90th year. was to achieve and be successful in life whatever Nan always encouraged her children to get out in the world, secure in the knowledge that should they ever need to return home to stay, there would always be a place for them. This security was nurtured in an environment of discipline, respect, humility and a sense of pride tempered with a cheeky sense of humour and a healthy dose of competitiveness leading to an argumentative but loving close-knit family that was mostly full of fun and laughter.
After her Dad remarried to Lil (Reremoana) Watson from Te Reinga, Nan went back to live with them in Manutuke where she experienced her first dose of discipline. Meals were eaten on time and she suddenly had a set bedtime. Nan helped nurture and support her many younger brothers and sisters and their children from the marriage after My aunties and uncles were all her father passed away and she active sportsmen and women continued to support Nana Lil until competing in various sports she too passed away. Nan would including rugby, rugby league, have been in her teens or early basketball, hockey, softball, twenties when she connected touch, netball, horse sports and with another younger sister, polocrosse. Both Nana and Pop Nan and Pop's wedding at Ngaro Milner. They became great Whangara Marae - 15th January were fully supportive of their friends going to the movies and children's sporting endeavours 1949
form it took. She believed that they should be truly happy and that was all she ever wanted. She would sometimes say things to me that did not seem to make sense at the time like “even the Queen of England uses the wharepaku just like you.” Her message to my cousins, nieces and nephews was to never think that anyone is more important than them when pursuing greatness and during that pursuit, remain humble. By doing the things that make you truly happy, know that you are living out Nan’s greatest wish. Kua kore koe e kitea i te mata o te whenua heoi anō kua tāngia koe ki ō mātou ngākau, ki ō mātou hinengaro, ā, ka tangi tonu ki a koe, nō reira tō mātau Māreikura, haere atu rā haere atu rā, moe mai rā i tō moenga roa.
Nan's 90th Birthday at Tairāwhiti Museum
Nā, Mokopuna Pamela Albert and Keith Niwa