One photo precious link to grandad

Marilyn te Awhe, of Wanganui, with pictures of her grandfather, Maketu "Mack" Wereta, and her mother, Rachel Wereta. Photo/Bevan Conley

THE photo of a young man with curly hair, a suit, and a serious expression hangs on the meeting-house wall at Ihupuku marae, near Waitotara.

This picture has special meaning for Wanganui woman Marilyn te Awhe because it's the only image she has of her koro [grandfather].

And it also connects her with Christine Jermey, a woman in Britain who has been trying to track down relatives of that same young man - Private Maketu "Mack" Wereta, a World War I soldier from Waitotara.

The Wanganui Chronicle recently ran a story about Mrs Jermey, whose late mother, Violet Fryer, received a little book of poems from Mr Wereta while he was fighting in France in 1918.

Mrs Jermey believed the connection between the two began when her mother, then a schoolgirl, sent a "Princess Mary's Box" to Mr Wereta. These gifts were embossed brass boxes containing cigarettes, tobacco or sweets.

"On the death of my mother I inherited this booklet, and I often wondered if I could find anything about this young man," Mrs Jermey said.

Mrs te Awhe is Mr Wereta's granddaughter. Her late mother, Rachel, was Mr Wereta's daughter, one of his five children.

Although Mr Wereta survived the war, he drowned at sea while fishing off the coast of Waitotara in 1934, aged 38.

He is buried at Ihupuku marae.

One of his sons, Oliver - Mrs te Awhe's uncle - was killed in World War II.

The photo at Ihupuku is the only link Mrs te Awhe now has to Mr Wereta. A house fire in the 1980s destroyed all remaining photos of him as well as his war medals.

Mrs te Awhe said she knew little of her connection to Ihupuku marae until the 1990s, when her mother's cousin, Emma Taha, took Mrs te Awhe to the marae to see photos of her koro [grandfather] and other relatives.

"After my koro died, my nan went back to live at Kauangaroa, where she was from. So we grew up knowing her side of the family but not really knowing my koro's side."

She said she had been interested to hear about Mrs Jermey's connection to Mr Wereta and would like to hear from her.

"It's quite amazing that this lady on the other side of the world knows about my koro."