Rotorua's Ani Rolfe QSM has died aged 83. Photo / File
An endless giver, a matriarch to the masses and one of the best penny divers the Whaka community has ever seen.
Rotorua's Ani Rolfe, QSM, has died aged 83.
The "woman with the heart of gold" who gave her life to the city took her final breath on Friday. More than 400 people turned out to farewell her on Monday.
In an interview with the Rotorua Daily Post yesterday, Rolfe's children described her as "the most beautiful, tolerant, patient and caring" woman to everyone she encountered.
Rolfe was born on November 10, 1937. She was one of eight children to Edward and Rangi Tuhia Morgan.
Her father was a captain in the 28th Māori Battalion and she was a Whaka girl through and through, known as "one of the best" penny divers the village had produced.
Her talents meant that she could pay the other children to run errands like go pick up sweets for them all to share while they soaked in the hot pools.
Rolfe was about 15 years old when she finished school and became a trainee nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the early 50s. She lived in the local nurses' home where she met her husband-to-be, Raymond Rolfe.
Before long, the pair were married and began growing their own family with eight children.
They moved from Kaingaroa, where Raymond worked in forestry, to Waipa before settling in Otonga Rd in the 1960s.
From cooking fritters for her children and their friends to throwing small hurrahs with music and singing, her home that had an "open-door policy" was never a dull place.
Daughter Raewyn McPhee said she could still vividly hear her mum yelling out the backdoor for the children from the neighbourhood, including her own kids, to come home for dinner as the sun set.
She was the definition of a matriarch and at the time of her death she had eight children, 25 grandchildren, 47 great-grandchildren and 18 great-great-grandchildren.
Rolfe's giving heart struck a chord with many whose lives she touched, her daughter Tina Barrett said.
Whether it was organising a fundraiser for a local charity, helping at various hospitals or knitting booties, jumpers or socks for children - Rolfe's generosity never slowed.
She was a lifelong member of the Māori Women's Welfare League, a Victim Support volunteer, a volunteer community coordinator and the organiser of line dance groups to keep senior citizens active - and that only scratched the surface.
She even did a stint at the John Paul College tuck shop where she would order the hungry kids to come round the back so she could give them the leftovers.
She became well-known locally in the early 2000s with a few of her friends for their Tina Turner impersonation group - with Rolfe both performing and hand sewing all of their sequined outfits.
And when she was not active in the community, she would never be caught without knitting needles in her hands crafting warm clothing for the city's children in need.
Rolfe was also a lifelong member of St Faith's Anglican Church and almost never missed a Sunday service.
Her son, John Rolfe said she threw herself into her volunteering and "immersed herself in her Māoridom" after the death of their father Raymond in 1997.
"Dad was her everything. We didn't know how she would handle it. But she stayed so loyal and threw herself into her passion of volunteering. She was a natural at it."
In 2013, the then-75-year-old was recognised for her services to the community and senior citizens in the Queen's Birthday Honours, awarded a Queen's Service Medal.
Barrett said when Rolfe received the letter, she just said 'why on earth are they giving this to me?'
"She was so very, very humble. She thought there were far more deserving people," she said.
Rolfe's grandson Chris Ruri laughed as he recalled how Rolfe would load up the grandchildren and cart them around the North Island to various line dancing competitions.
"Those were some special times."
Barrett said her mother was also well-known for her glamour as she was "always immaculately dressed".
"She loved her big sunglasses and owned more than 300 pairs of beautiful earrings."
A resounding quality all of Rolfe's children admired was how "fiercely loyal" their mother was and her work ethic was something each aspired to live up to.
Fellow members of St Faith's Women's Fellowship had described Rolfe as the "quiet one who would sit and knitting while planning what she could do next to help people".
More than 400 people packed out the inside and outside of St Faith's Church on Monday for Rolfe's funeral, which John described as an "excellent send-off" for "the woman with the heart of gold".
Rolfe's grandson Ruri said the vibe of the day had been "so beautiful" with dancing, singing, children running around and family embracing - exactly what his grandmother would have wanted.