Mihiata Te Rore, 62, was a loveable mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, her family says.
A visit to pick lemons at a family member’s home is believed to have set in motion a dog attack that killed a much-loved Northland grandmother.
Mihiata Te Rore, 62, died on February 17 after being fatally injured by three dogs living at the Kaihū property she was visiting.
Her younger brother Munual Te Rore believed she had gone to the family member’s home on State Highway 12 in search of some lemons.
He said an hour before then, she had been at the local petrol station, Kaihū GAS, where she liked to catch up and chat with people.
Munual was in Auckland at the time, his phoned turned off. When he later turned his phone on, he discovered a number of missed calls and texts which made his heart sink.
He said a local police sergeant confirmed his sister had died. He hurried north to join Mihiata’s children at Whangārei Hospital.
Together they broke down, he said.
Munual said Mihiata - a mother of five, grandmother of six and great-grandmother of one - had loved her moko more than life itself.
“She was an aroha woman.”
She had moved home to Kaihū about 20 years ago after living in Auckland.
Mihiata, who Munual praised as intelligent, had researched their whānau land in Kaihū and had been determined to return.
Munual followed his sister north around 2021.
“I really got to know her more over the last five years than I did my entire life, you know?” he said.
Munual described Mihiata as a loveable person and a straight shooter who “called it as it was”.
“If she thought that there was something not right, she’d tell you,” he said.
“If she met you for the first time, she’d be very observant. She’d observe you up and down.”
Munual said Mihiata was a staunch woman, and they sometimes butted heads.
“When everyone else didn’t believe her, when everyone else was against her, she stood up ... she stood strong ... she’d never back down.”
Mihiata never held a grudge either.
Munual said he and his sister would visit each other about three times a week. They lived about 800m apart.
“She’d come over and see me if she hadn’t heard from me ... and if I haven’t heard from her, I’d go and see her.”
“I keep expecting her to come over, but, you know, she’s not any more.”
Mihiata was well-known and well-connected in the rural settlement, near Dargaville. She had her “finger on the pulse”, Munual said.
He shared how she would watch Kaipara District Council meetings and that she knew all the local gossip.
“It was amazing what she knew,” Munual said.
Before retiring, Mihiata worked as a substitute teacher at Kaihū Valley School, Dargaville Intermediate School and Dargaville High School.
Munual said she believed strongly in bettering children’s education, especially in Kaihū.
Mihiata supported the local school, with a roll of about 15 primary pupils, right until her death.
Kaihū Valley School paid tribute to her last week, saying she had been lovely to its tamariki.
Munual said many people were shocked by Mihiata’s death.
He was told by a person at her tangi, they could “feel the pain and the sadness” as they approached the marae.
“They could feel the heavy heart that everyone had,” Munual said.
He described uncontrollable tears as he sat beside his sister’s coffin.
“I just couldn’t stop weeping for 10 minutes, and I haven’t wept like that since we lost our mother.”
But Mihiata’s wish would be for people to keep going.
“That’s what she’d want us to do,” Munual said.
The three dogs involved in the attack have been euthanised.
Police are investigating Mihiata’s death, and said on Friday there was no new public information.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.