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Manurewa home invasion victim Yan Ping Yang was a "loving mother" and "the greatest grandmother anyone could ask for", her family said at her funeral yesterday.
She dedicated her life to her five children and 14 grandchildren, several of whom she helped raise, and was known to spend many evenings staying up late watching wrestling and Fear Factor on television just to be with her family.
Yesterday, that large family farewelled the loving 80-year-old, five days after she died from injuries suffered during the vicious attack in her home.
The funeral - attended by around 60 people - was held at Schnapper Rock in Albany and included a Buddhist ceremony.
The family she had raised knelt on the floor during parts of the ceremony, supporting one another as they fought back tears while the scent of burning incense wafted around the room and Buddhist monks sang and chanted.
Yesterday afternoon, Mrs Yang's nephew Tim Wong and four of the grandchildren she helped raise met the media in the hope publicity about the homicide might yield some much-needed clues about what happened and who was responsible.
Mr Wong said his aunt had survived the Japanese occupation during World War II and the great Chinese famine. After being widowed in China about 20 years ago, she moved to New Zealand to be with her family.
"Her whole life has been about her dedication to her family. She came to New Zealand to help raise her grandchildren so her own children could concentrate on work," Mr Wong said.
"With all the grandchildren now grown up, she was finally able to relax and enjoy the fruits of her labour.
"For her to have all this taken away by this sickening act of random violence is a real tragedy.
"We know someone out there knows something in connection with this so we strongly urge anyone who has any information whatsoever to come forward and contact the police to stop this person from striking again."
Mrs Yang was alone in her family's home when a man broke in on Wednesday last week about 5pm.
He put a hand over her mouth, dragged her into the bedroom and beat her until she was unconscious.
Her son and granddaughter found her, still unconscious, about 10 o'clock that night.
Relatives have spoken of visiting her in hospital to find a woman they hardly recognised. Her face was swollen and bruised and there were black marks around her neck.
"She was like a totally different person, I can't believe he did this to her, how much difference he made to my grandmother," said Gavin Su.
Granddaughter Lily Su said: "We just want him caught, we just want to take a big weight off our shoulders. We definitely don't want this to happen to anyone else."
Mr Wong said his aunt was a defenceless woman who wouldn't have weighed more than 45kg.
He couldn't understand how the attacker could live with "snuffing out" her life in the way he had.
Police say they are continuing with inquiries but need the pubic's help.
* Anyone with information is asked to phone 0800 Invasion or 0800 468-274.
