Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Hundreds farewell Okeroa

Rotorua Daily Post
20 Jul, 2011 12:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tearful friends and family have farewelled the "beautiful, talented and strong" Okeroa Douglas with kind words, an intense haka and waiata performed by her former schoolmates.
The funeral for the Rotorua 18-year-old was at Te Papaiouru Marae in Ohinemutu, where she was described as "beautiful, talented and strong".
Hundreds turned out yesterday
to say goodbye.
The teenager was killed in a car crash on State Highway 5 near Rotorua on Friday.
The car she was in hit a power pole next to the Lake View Golf Course, just north of Rotorua, at 9.55pm.
Rotorua police sergeant Pauline Jones said the car crossed the centre line and left the road before crashing into the pole.
Okeroa died at the scene. The front-seat passenger was taken to hospital with head injuries. Police are investigating the cause of the crash.
A haka was performed as Okeroa's body was carried to the waiting hearse.
Students from Te Kura o Te Koutu sang for their former classmate who had finished school last year.
One of Okeroa's former teachers, Aramoana Mohi-Maxwell, spoke about Okeroa during the ceremony, calling her "beautiful, talented and strong".
"She was talented, no two ways about it," she said.
Okeroa was an unsung hero among her peers.
"She brought out the best in people."
"She will stay close - she will be remembered always."
Okeroa had moved to Hamilton this year to study at the University of Waikato.
University media relations co-ordinator Angie Knox said Okeroa had been studying in the School of Maori and Pacific Development in the Faculty of Education.
Okeroa was also in the New Zealand's Maori women's hockey team and had played for the Rotorua Aces.
This week the Rotorua U18s women's hockey team dedicated their tournament in Auckland to her.
In 2009, the talented teenager received a Daily Post Youth in Excellence Award.
She was able to speak three languages - English, Maori and Spanish - and was a proven leader.
Her achievements included representing the Bay of Plenty in hockey, basketball, tennis and touch rugby. She was also a dedicated kapa haka performer.
After the service at the marae, Okeroa was taken to Kauae Cemetery for burial.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily PostUpdated

'Blow vehicles off the road': Severe thunderstorm warning for Akl, tornadoes possible

29 May 05:56 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Lakeside holiday homeowners face big sewerage bills

29 May 04:57 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Crash cuts power to hundreds in Rotorua

29 May 04:28 AM

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Blow vehicles off the road': Severe thunderstorm warning for Akl, tornadoes possible

'Blow vehicles off the road': Severe thunderstorm warning for Akl, tornadoes possible

29 May 05:56 AM

Thunderstorms are expected to be accompanied by damaging wind gusts.

Lakeside holiday homeowners face big sewerage bills

Lakeside holiday homeowners face big sewerage bills

29 May 04:57 AM
Crash cuts power to hundreds in Rotorua

Crash cuts power to hundreds in Rotorua

29 May 04:28 AM
'A city that’s finding its feet again': Businesses optimistic in survey, air connectivity key issue

'A city that’s finding its feet again': Businesses optimistic in survey, air connectivity key issue

29 May 12:00 AM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP