REVEREND Kotene Pihema and his late wife Dorothy gave 20 years of service to St Thomas, restoring "the church on the hill" to some of its former glory. Photo/supplied
REVEREND Kotene Pihema and his late wife Dorothy gave 20 years of service to St Thomas, restoring "the church on the hill" to some of its former glory. Photo/supplied
Reverend Kotene Pihema celebrated his 80th birthday at the Te Puke Citizen RSA Club last weekend.
The Maketu vicar still lives in the town, but was born and bred in Bethlehem.
Hailing from Ngati Kahu and the Wairoa Marae in Bethlehem, he has held positions of influence - on the Tauranga Moana Trust Board, Otorohanga Federated Farmers, chairing the Ahu Whenua Trust and Whakaue Marae in Maketu, "and stood up for the people supporting his cousins at Bastion Point", and spoken on Treaty matters in Wellington.
Reverend Pihema, took over St Thomas' Anglican Church in 2005, Western Bay's oldest church, built in 1869.
He's now retired from the ministry after his wife Dorothy passed away in 2015.
At 80 years of age Kotene is an imposing man; big, muscular and tall, with a strong presence.
He regularly goes to the gym in Te Puke. His stepson Paul Haimona says his dad keeps himself in good shape and reckons if you keep your body right you stay on top of things.
"He's a good man, and underlying his work ethic it's always been for the benefit of my mother and the family," he says.
"He's always held space for family. "He's a good orator and he creates presence. His army training and self discipline has held him in good stead - and we're the beneficiaries of that - everyone has been the beneficiaries of that."
Paul says Kotene's success has been because he always worked hard and brought his army life into his civilian life.
"I put it down to his training in the special forces. "He who dares wins and even if it seems impossible to have a go."
Kotene is well travelled and a born leader. While working "on the chain" at the Bluff freezing works in the 60s, Kotene was captured by an ad to enlist in the army. A week later he'd packed up and headed for Waiouru to queue with "a row of men a mile long".
He says he always wanted to go overseas, having had uncles who fought in WWII.
Assigned to the 2nd Battalion, he was sent to Malaysia to fight and track communists coming down from the north. "We had to go and sort em out," Kotene says.
Life in the jungle was hard. He spent months leading patrols stalking the enemy, often covered in leeches in thick jungle with "trees bigger than Tane Mahuta".
"When you took your clothes off your body was covered in them and you had to burn them off," he says.
Kotene says they'd go into the jungle in patrols of four or five and supplies were flown in by helicopter.
He's a good man, and underlying his work ethic it's always been for the benefit of my mother and the family
The "terrorists" travelled light with only a rifle and hand grenades, compared to the heavy packs and high-powered weapons the New Zealanders carried - and they moved fast.
After five years Kotene was called back to New Zealand along with 10 men to compete for six places on the SAS, Special Air Service-the premier combat unit of the New Zealand Defence Force.
Deployed to the jungles of South-East Asia his first operation was in Thailand with the American Marines. He led patrols.
"You had to be a crack shot, a good marksmen and knowledgeable with map reading.
"The aim was to be 150 per cent fit. We could parachute into any situation-the desert, jungle and unarmed combat.
Reverend Kotene Pihema joined the army as a young man, later moving to the SAS, Special Air Service - the premier combat unit of the New Zealand Defence Force. Photo/supplied
"I enjoyed it-it was exciting. "The worst part was the strain of knowing the enemy were there and you don't know where they are."
He says progress was slow withabig pack on your back.
"You had to go quietly and use hand signals." "I was a tough soldier and could fight too," he says.
After the SAS Kotene and his then wife-to-be Dorothy Rogers moved to Otorohanga to farm, later shifting to Te Awamutu where they bought a weed spraying business.
The call back home to Dorothy's marae in Maketu returned the couple to the Bay of Plenty with Kotene taking up service for the church.
He says he put his "whole heart into the job" to what later became a calling.
The Pihemas gave 20 years of service to St Thomas, restoring "the church on the hill" to some of its former glory.
It was on Dorothy's death in 2015 that Kotene gave up being active in the church.
