Pita Anaru at the Anzac Day dawn service and parade at Muruika War Cemetery at Ohinemutu in 2017. Photo / Ben Fraser
Pita Anaru at the Anzac Day dawn service and parade at Muruika War Cemetery at Ohinemutu in 2017. Photo / Ben Fraser
Highly respected and loved Te Arawa and Ngāti Whakaue kaumātua Pita (Peter) Heremia Anaru is being remembered as a “man of great mana” who put “service before self”.
The Rotorua-born and educated iwi leader will be farewelled in a service at St Faith’s Church on Monday following his death at home on Friday morning, aged 93.
The son of Te Arawa Trust Board secretary Karauria (Claude) Anaru and his wife Hanahira, also deceased, he is the last of six siblings to pass away. He and his late wife, Bev, had no children but he is survived by his large extended whānau.
Pita Anaru and his siblings grew up beside the Utuhina Stream on Old Taupo Rd.
He was educated at Rotorua primary and high schools and Auckland Teachers’ College. Teaching was a passion he and his wife shared and both became principals at Kawerau schools.
At age 35, he was named by the Jaycees organisation as one of the country’s most outstanding young men.
During his life, Pita was involved in many community organisations and charitable works.
He was also a former registrar of the Justice of the Peace Association and deputy of the Te Arawa Returned Services League and Ngāti Whakaue Education Endowment Fund.
He was also a Fellow of the NZ Education Institute, a former First Sovereign Trust director and a trustee of Muruika Anwhenua Trust as well as a vestry member of the St Faith’s Church.
In 1999 he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to education and the community.
On his wife’s death in 2013, Pita donated $200,000 to establish the Beverley Anaru Memorial Scholarships Fund, which provides educational scholarships for Te Arawa descendants studying at NZQA Level 4 or above.
The fund is administered by the Geyser Foundation on behalf of the Anaru whanau.
Joining the Territorial Army in his teens, Pita Anaru transferred to regular force serving in Malaya in 1950 when the country was in the grip of guerrilla warfare with Chinese communists.
After returning from overseas, he returned to the Territorials, retiring with the rank of Major.
His niece, Tiweka Anaru, told the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend her uncle poured his love and energy into helping countless other people during his life.
“One of my uncle’s little one-liners was ‘service before self’ and he stuck to that throughout his life, to the end. He was quite fearless and had a very strong Christian faith and strong faith in mankind.
“My uncle believed there was good in everybody and he liked helping people to excel and become better people and good citizens of this country through education scholarships.”
She said the strong values and principles instilled in him by his parents and through his whakapapa have been passed down to the next generations of the family.
Tiweka said her uncle never sought the limelight and often did his charitable works “under the radar”, which was why he was so respected and loved by so many people.
She said for his age, her uncle had been “a very fit and healthy gentleman” who still lived at his home, but seven weeks ago he broke a femur during a fall.
“He was fiercely independent and wanted to keep doing most things himself but after he broke his femur I moved in and became his companion.”
Tiweka said her uncle was a man of few words, but when he did speak, it was always with great wisdom. She said she had learned so much from him and he was a great role model.
“We all miss him very much,” she said.
Te Arawa and Ngāti Whakaue kaumātua Monty Morrison said Anaru’s death was a “sad day for Ngati Whakaue, Te Arawa and the Rotorua community”.
Monty Morrison (left) and Pita Anaru. Photo / Stephen Parker
“We have lost a man of great mana, a gentleman whose generosity of time for his family and community knew no bounds. I have lost a friend and quiet mentor who enjoyed many Christmas lunches with my family.
“I, like a number of us close to Peter, the time to grieve will come later. For the next few days, the focus will be on fulfilling the tasks he has asked of me. Moe mai ra e te Rangatira Peter.”
Pita will lie at his home at 9B Robertson St today. On Sunday at 9am he will be taken to Tunohopu Marae, Ohinemutu. At 11am on Monday there will be a service at St Faith’s Church, followed by interment with his wife, Bev, at Kauae Urupā.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
