IN TUNE: Hoeroa Marumaru, right, plays saxophone while his cousin, Ihaka Metekingi, strums a guitar. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Former Maori Land Court Judge Hoeroa Marumaru, also known as Hoeroa Bailey Marumaru, had a keen legal mind but was also a humble, down-to-earth, caring and generous man.
In younger days, he was an avid sportsman and talented musician, playing piano, clarinet and saxophone with groups like The Diplomats, the Maori Hi Fives and Hi Quins.
Former High Court Judge Sir Taihakurei (Eddie) Durie shared a student flat with him and was a lifelong friend. He called Mr Marumaru a pioneer among Maori lawyers, and a good friend and mentor to the Maori students who followed after him.
"He was studious and undemonstrative but exceptionally intelligent and with a keen eye for detecting that which did not stack up in terms of legal principle.
"He was from a family who had made major contributions to Maori land development in the Atihau-Whanganui district and was himself well versed in Maori Land Law and in some of the major cases led by Whanganui Maori in relation to the Whanganui River, gravel extraction, forestry development and in the creation of shareholder trusts."
Terry Refoy-Butler, who was in a law partnership with him in the 1970s, said Mr Marumaru was "a fine Maori gentleman".
His sister, Witerina Cooper, remembered his social side.
"He never turned anybody away. He gave his time to a lot of people. He was very supportive of other family members, and other achievers in the family. There was no social snobbery in him at all."
Mr Marumaru's iwi affiliations went far and wide. He was Te Atihaunui a Paparangi and Ngati Apa, as well as Te Atiawa and Taranaki tuturu, with a link to Ngapuhi through his great grandfather, Te Oti Graham. His father, Hoeroa Marumaru, was from Parewanui and his mother, Tarikura Bailey, was from Putiki. He had three sisters, Colleen, Witerina and Heeni - all much younger than him - who adored him.
Education was very important to both sides of his family and music was a big part of their lives.
Young Hoeroa was brought up in Putiki by his mother and his grandparents, Moari and Ihaka Bailey. He went to Queen's Park School and was a natural sportsman, playing cricket and tennis, and later social squash and pool.
In secondary years, he attended Wanganui Collegiate School as a day boy. After that he was off to Victoria and Canterbury universities to study law.
While in Wellington, he flatted with and got to know some of the movers and shakers of the Maori world - the late Api Mahuika, Eddie Durie, Whatarangi Winiata, Georgina Te Heu Heu, Tipene O'Regan and others. They joined the Wellington Maori Club and would meet at the Hotel DeBrett and talk endlessly about the social, cultural and economic betterment of Maori people.
Mr Marumaru used to bring some of them home to Putiki at breaks.
"Our house was always full of young, eager, knowledgeable men. He enjoyed bringing his friends home to be part of the family and wider whanau."
The young man played music, mainly saxophone, for The Diplomats, a dance/show band. Most of the band members went on to bigger things in the musical or other spheres. Mr Marumaru carried on his study. He took ship for London in 1962, to go to the London School of Economics. He was only supposed to be away a year or two, but stayed for five years, working for an English law firm. His uncle Kawana Pohe was in London. He was part of the professional show bands the Maori Hi Fives and Hi Quins. Hearing them, Mr Marumaru realised he was missing music.
"He asked for his saxophone to be sent over to England so that he could play with them when he could. He loved that and played at The Checkers."
While in England he also married Ann Parrott. The two had three children, Hoeroa, Eruera and Tarikura.
When Mr Marumaru returned to New Zealand in 1967 he got a job with a Wellington law firm, Anyon, Knight & Marumaru. He moved back to Wanganui in 1977 and started his own firm, later working with Terry Refoy-Butler.
His father and Sir Apirana Ngata helped set up the Morikaunui and Atihau Whanganui incorporations. With uncles Te Reimana and Charles Bailey, he helped set up Taranaki's Parininihi ki Waitotara Incorporation (PKW). He was an inaugural committee member in the Nelson-based Wakatu Incorporation.
He was sworn in as a Maori Land Court Judge in Whangarei in 1985. He served the court mainly in Te Tai Tokerau and closer to home in Aotea, and was instrumental in setting up the Maori Law Society in 1988. During his years as a judge he was based either in Wanganui or at his farm in Parewanui. But he also travelled a lot.
Mr Marumaru was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2007. He spent the rest of his life with Witerina and her husband, Wally Cooper, in Putiki. He knew there was something wrong and was distressed by his loss of memory.
The family is grateful for the help of the Alzheimers Society during those years - Mr Marumaru went on its outings every week.
"He was a treasured member of their group. They picked him up every Monday and he went with a smile on his face and always came home with a smile on his face."
He never went back to playing the saxophone, but still loved music and singing, and he enjoyed attending Sunday services at St Paul's Memorial Church in Putiki.
He died of a heart attack on January 7, and is buried in Putiki urupa. He is survived by three sisters, three children and eight grandchildren.