"Oh if he were still here he would be going flat-out in his language because he was a true soldier," she said.
"And I can almost hear him saying 'come on ... speak up mum!"
Wiremu (Bill) Whaitiri was just 22 years old back in 1954 when as a gunner with the 16 Regiment's 163rd Battery he embarked on a journey to the battle-scarred landscape of Korea.
He had left the civilian life of a young clerk with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to join the army at a time United Nations forces were effectively mopping up and holding on to a very shaky state of peace.
In that same year of 1954 Mei was a 14-year-old pupil of Hukarere College and her face was used as the model for the now iconic statue of Pania.
She and the man she always simply called "dad" were married in 1959.
"Pania is older than the hall was," she said.
"I have been reading all the comments and I started thinking is there anything I can say - my husband is not with me any more and I know what he would say."
Which was something she said should have been locked in given the history of what the building was designated to be by the Napier council and its people of
the time.
"The eternal flame and the hall of remembrance should never have been removed - the council had no right to remove it," she said.
"I have to be a true wife of a fine returned serviceman - I have to say this," she said.
And it was something she also felt emotionally about also.
She had been to an event in the refurbished conference centre and summed it up by saying "you walk in there and you just feel something is missing".
The statue which her young face adorns faces in the near direction of the site of what had been the memorial to "those who served for us and those who gave their lives so we can enjoy the freedom they gave us" and what happened to that site worries her.
"What will happen in 10 or 12 years time, when I am gone, and someone wants to change Pania's name or move her?
"That is what has happened to the memorial."
She said the whole issue was unfortunate and very sensitive for a lot of people.
Including members of her whanau like Pixie Tuhiwai - her father Alexander George Brown was serving with 489 Squadron during World War II and along with the rest of the bomber crew died when their aircraft was brought down over Germany.
That is where he was buried - but his name is upon the roll of honour which is now unseen.
"We would come and see his name - it is so sad what has happened here," Pixie said.
Mrs Whaitiri was also concerned about the removal process which had taken place.
"Were they blessed when they were removed - it is essential when you were around taonga that they are blessed."
She said it was good to see people speaking up about it, and she was proud to speak up for her late husband - a special man the memorial meant a lot to.
"It must be put right."
Napier City Council spokeswoman Fiona Fraser said council wouldn't comment again on the issue until its working party meets next week.
