Whakarewarewa Rugby Club president Greg Gillies speaks about what his grandfather, Rev Bob Schuster, meant to them.
A beautiful soul and an invincible koro.
Rev Bob Schuster was a great rugby man, church leader and government ambassador who had a heart and a smile like no other.
The adored kaumātua died on Sunday morning at the age of 89.
The husband of the late, acclaimed Māori weavingexponent Emily Schuster, Rev Bob Schuster was a Bay of Plenty Steamers player, a reverend canon in the Anglican church, played a foreign affairs role blessing new embassies around the world and was an iwi representative with the New Zealand Rugby Union.
Rev Bob Schuster speaking at Te Puia's Matariki dawn ceremony in 2009. Photo / NZME
His son, Jim Schuster, said his father worked hard and played rugby hard but had the softest and kindest heart.
He was proud of his family and adored his time with them - he had six children, 21 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren.
"Even towards the end we were singing to him and he would try to join in and sing. He would smile away because he could feel the love from his whānau."
He remembers his dad working hard as a bushman and in timber yards and won't forget his large worker's hands.
It was Schuster who encouraged him to join the church and take his studies seriously.
"It was often joked that she was the only one who could turn a sinner into a saint."
Rev Schuster excelled in this role too, not just becoming a lay preacher but going on to be a reverend canon.
Descended from Samoan and Māori ancestry, he wasn't known as a fluent te reo Māori speaker until his later years.
"When he turned to the church, he picked up te reo then became a kaikōrero (male speaker) on the marae. He was always exercising and fit and healthy, Even as an old gentleman on the paepae, he seemed the youngest and was the fittest of them all."
He had a hand in preserving Hinemihi meeting house, which stands on the grounds of their family home on Froude St.
There is a replica meeting house, also called Hinemihi, that stands in Clandon Park near Guildford, Surrey, just outside London. It was taken there in the 1890s after it became nearly submerged by the Tarawera eruption.
The Schusters would o to the UK regularly to help with the wharenui's restoration and there are plans to bring it home to Rotorua.
Together the couple accompanied the Te Māori exhibition to the United States in 1984 and Reverend Schuster travelled the world as a foreign affairs representative blessing New Zealand embassies and consulates.
As his health faded in recent weeks - purely from old age - his heart was still strong.
"He waited until Sunday, Rātapu, to pass on."
Grandson and Whakarewarewa Rugby Community Sports Club president Greg Gillies said his grandfather was the poutokomanawa (central supporting figure) of the club.
"Everything about him was red and black, and everything we do is for him."
Rev Bob Schuster was a staunch Whakarewarewa Rugby Club supporter. Photo / NZME
Rev Schuster not only played for Whakarewarewa, but he also went on to coach, was a former president and life member of the club.
An outstanding rugby player in his own right, he played for the Bay of Plenty Steamers and trialled for the New Zealand Māori All Blacks.
"He was a prop and was a tough bugger but off the field, he was so gentle. It's like he'd flip a switch when he was on the field.
"He was just an awesome man. He was our invincible koro."
Gillies remembers his koro as hard-working who would involve all his family in whatever he did and had the right element of competitiveness.
Rev Bob Schuster at his Lake Rotoiti home in 2021. Photo / NZME
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said: "He was a beautiful soul.
"I knew him and Emily and they were a beautiful couple. I think Bob will know where he is going as he had great spiritual strength.
"He was a powerful yet humble man ... history, taonga, weaving, carving. That family had great knowledge, with his wisdom."
She saw him in the last few weeks, and although he had become frail he still had that beautiful smile.
"He was very content with the next generation coming through, and I think he will know his job is done."
Emily Schuster was the love of his life and he will be buried beside her on Wednesday at Nga Rūrū urupa at Rotoiti after a service at Te Pakira Marae, where he is lying in state at Whakarewarewa.
