Sunny Teki found time to spend on the golf course after serving in the Army and building several businesses.
Photo / Teki whānau
Sunny Teki found time to spend on the golf course after serving in the Army and building several businesses.
Photo / Teki whānau
The late Sunny Teki was many things to many people in Whanganui.
Some knew him as a businessman and owner of the Caltex Station on Victoria Ave and the Aotea Motor Lodge.
Others knew him as a golfer, an army veteran, and an animal lover.
The people who knew and loved him best were his wife Sugar and his large whānau who were with him when he died peacefully at Hospice Whanganui on July 10.
Whatever the relationship there was likely to be some cheeky banter exchanged according to Teki’s grandson and namesake Sunny Teki-Clark.
“He was always one to inject some fun and cheek into a situation,” he said.
“And my nana was the one he teased most of all.”
Teki-Clark said the banter between his grandparents was always good-natured and amusing to their children and mokopuna but there was one occasion when Sunny Teki made his wife very cross.
“After I was born in Palmerston North Hospital my grandparents had agreed that they would travel together to meet me after Nana finished work that day,” said Teki-Clark.
“At that time, Koko was the Regimental Sargeant Major (RSM) of the 7th Batallion in Napier and his position gave him some flexibility but Nana didn’t have that flexibility so she went to work.”
Teki-Clark said his grandfather then jumped on his motorbike and rode to Palmerston North to meet the new arrival.
The new parents were still discussing what to name the baby when the grandfather arrived and said “I’m here to see Sunny.”
“And that was that,” Teki-Clark said.
“Nan went ballistic when she found out what he’d done but that day I became ‘Little Sunny’ to his ‘Big Sunny’ and that lasted until I became as big as him and then we were known as ‘Senior’ and ‘Junior’.
“To me, and to his immediate whānau - he is, and will always be, Koko.”
Sunny Teki had a distinguished army career before embarking on successful tourism business ventures.
Photo / NZDF
Teki-Clark’s great-grandfather Wiremu Te Morehu Te Utupoto Teki was also known as “Sunny” and named his son “Algiers” in memory of the Algerian capital he visited while serving with the Maori Batallion in World War II.
Algiers Sunny was born in Whanganui on February 18, 1948, to his loving father and mother Irene Sophia (nee Steele). He was the second of 15 children.
He met his future wife Jula-Maraea “Sugar” Tuka at Koriniti Marae when he was 17 and she was 16. They were married at St Anthony’s Church in Alma Rd a year later.
“They were always a loving couple and lived by the vows they made when they married,” said their grandson.
“They loved and worked hard together.”
Sunny and Sugar had three daughters - Kala, Alaina, and Melody.
Teki-Clark said his koro always had a “hard-working - no excuses, get it done attitude” and left school to start work at 14 to help support his whānau.
Starting as a cleaner and general hand, he eventually joined the chain at the freezing works where he was well supported by the older men who knew that his father was a wounded war veteran, having lost a leg after stepping on a landmine.
“During his time on the chain, Koko got to know many of the men from the hapū of Whanganui - including many of our whanaunga from Rātana and Ngā Paerangi. Koko shared fond memories of how they would all sing while working on the chain - saying he’d never heard something so beautiful,” said Teki-Clark.
Sunny left to join the Army and in May 1971, he was a member of the last deployment of New Zealand combat troops sent to Vietnam until they were withdrawn in December that year.
Teki-Clark said his grandfather’s military career took the family to Waiouru, Burnham, Masterton, and Napier.
“They also lived in a beautiful house in Singapore for two and a half years.
“Koko joined the multinational peace-keeping force on the Sinai Peninsula to oversee the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979.”
The Army also provided the opportunity for Sunny Teki to use his skills as a rugby player with the NZ armed forces rugby team and his grandson said he was a fan of the tackle.
“When he would watch our games or games on TV, he would say ‘Tackle him man - stop grabbing his jersey and trying to give him a kiss. Get in there and tackle him.”
After retiring from the Army, Sunny and Sugar used his lump sum payment to purchase the lease on their first motel.
According to their grandson they “worked their guts out” to do all the work involved with running the La Mirage Motor Lodge in Palmerston North and built it into a highly successful venture.
It would be the start of a number of prudent investments and business ventures that brought them back to Whanganui where they have been prime movers in local tourism.
Former Whanganui mayor Annette Main recalled the support she received from Sunny Teki when establishing the Flying Fox retreat on the Whanganui River Rd. She remembers him as a “lovely man.”
“The kindness shown to me by Sunny and Jula meant my move across the river from Koriniti in 1990 became one of the memorable times of my life,” she said.
“His genuine delight to see you smile together with his generosity of time, friendship and guidance ensured much respect from my family and friends.”
Main said the fledgling group of tourism operators at the time benefited immensely from Teki’s advice.
“We were so appreciative of his gift of an image of his taonga as the logo for our collaboration as Journeys on the Whanganui.”
Sunny Teki is remembered as a lovely man who enjoyed making others smile.
Photo / Teki whānau
Sunny Teki loved horses and kept a small stable of racehorses. One named Haka Boogie whom he co-owned with golfing friends had a recent win in Hastings.
Golf was Teki’s other big passion and his grandson said the friendships he formed through the sport were equal to the camaraderie he enjoyed while serving in the Army.
With four friends he enjoyed playing as a member of the “48 Group”.
“We were all born in 1948 and Sunny was born first,” said club member Ken Saunders.
Sunny Teki leaves Sugar, his daughters and sons-in-law, 12 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. His tangi was held at Koriniti Marae on July 13.
