Te Arawa kaumātua Pihopa Kingi and wife Inez Kingi when they got another Queen's Birthday Honour in 2009. Photo / Stephen Parker
The queen of Māori health is finally at peace and she is now reunited with her chief.
Ngāti Whakaue health leader Inez Haereata Kingi has died at the age of 91 following a long battle with dementia.
Described as a matriarch and visionary health leader, her legacy lives on today with her "by Māori for Māori" health programmes still operating 30 years after she established them.
Her body was taken on to Te Papaiouru Marae and into Tamatekapua meeting house yesterday, where she will lie until her funeral service on Saturday.
Despite the purpose of the gathering, laughter could be heard by the large crowd of people mourning the loss of the kuia of Te Arawa.
Many people were present from the health organisations that Kingi devoted her life to, most of them masking up, a gesture the Māori health advocate would have appreciated.
The sun was shining down on those waiting to welcome Kingi. The atua (gods) cried, showering all in attendance with rain, signalling her arrival at Tamatekapua.
Kingi was the wife of the late Te Arawa rangatira, Pihopa Kingi, who died aged 88 in 2017. He was considered one of the great leaders of his generation and together with Inez they were given two royal honours - being made Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in 1999, then a decade later the pair became Companions of the Queen's Service Order (QSO).
She was responsible for setting up Tipu Ora Health Centre in Ōhinemutu as well as drug and alcohol service Te Utuhina Manaakitanga Trust.
Today those two health organisations have merged to become Manaaki Ora but the programmes she started 30 years ago remain the foundation.
Pihopa Kingi's love for his wife was such that in the weeks leading up to his death, he invited the Rotorua Daily Post to his home to pass on a book he had written about her that paid tribute to her health sector work.
He said at that meeting he wanted her legacy to be told in case she outlived him.
His book, Life & Times of Inez Haereata Kingi, details how she was the youngest of 12 children and was raised in Ōhinemutu.
She married the love of her life in 1955 at St Faith's Church, in the heart of the village.
His book describes her as being the "star of the class of 1950" when studying to be a dental nurse.
In 1983 she began creating Ōhinemutu's Tūnohopū Health Centre. With the support of the Women's Health League, of which she was president, the centre provided Western-trained professionals and traditional Māori healers working side by side.
That was a change from the healthcare at the time, which didn't include any ideas from Māori culture.
In 1997, Hei Oranga Niho mo te Iwi Māori was set up where dental students in their fifth year of study gave free dental services to the Māori community.
She is survived by her three sons, Tanira, Matapihi and Mokonuiarangi (Guy). Her late daughter, Merenia, died in 2016.
Tanira Kingi told the Rotorua Daily Post his mother was a visionary.
"What she created with Tipu Ora and Te Utuhina Manaakitanga Trust were her visions."
He said her inspiration and drive came from her time with the Māori Women's Health League and her heart came from her love of Ōhinemutu, Koutu and Ngāti Whakaue.
He described her as a beautiful mother.
"She was a loving mum who was always there for us ... She guided and counselled us on the decisions we made."
He said his parents had a great love and it was sad when her dementia saw her slip away 12 years ago.
His father would still visit her like "clockwork", despite the fact she didn't recognise who he was.
"In some ways we lost her a long time ago and she is now just a shell of what she was but her legacy is now alive and that is thanks to her work."
Te Taru White, who was married to Merenia, said he loved and respected his parents-in-law.
"She was a tough lady and a tough negotiator but she had to be. I remember Pihopa saying he was just the prop for her and the one who would follow her around. He would laugh about that. But she needed a man like him and they were lovely together."
White described her as a "matriarch of Te Arawa hauora".
"Thirty years ago she didn't believe the system would deliver for Māori and as such she developed Tipu Ora. The fact they are still going today is testimony to the resilience of this lady."
Like all of those who loved her, he said he was happy to see her at peace now.
"My only hope is that people remember this great woman for the work she has done."
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said she had known the couple since 1975 and had developed a close relationship with them through her health work.
"As one of New Zealand's first Māori dental nurses she then worked with the then Prime Minister about a Māori oral health plan. I reckon she'd be thrilled to know we are now moving to fluoridation."
Chadwick said she was a battler for Māori health and wellbeing and support for mothers and babies.
"Her whole life was dedicated to Te Arawa and Whakaue and she was known and respected nationally and internationally for her work."
Chadwick described her as beautiful and having a great knack for connecting with people.
"She always touched you when she was talking to you and that engaged people – but she was also tough. She knew what she wanted and how to get what she wanted and no matter the political flavour at any given time, she knew how to pull every lever to get stuff happening to make things better for people locally, and she hoped nationally, for oral health and mums and babies. That's her legacy."
Te Arawa kaumātua Monty Morrison said she was a national health leader and her death was a huge loss to Māori and Te Arawa.
"She and Pihopa are now united. She is at peace now."
Her funeral service will be held on Saturday at 10am at Te Papaiouru Marae before she will be laid to rest next to her husband at Kauae Cemetery.
A critically injured pedestrian was taken to hospital.