Drawing on a traditional Polynesian belief, Dr Joe Williams said yesterday that the rain this week was a manifestation of the grief the tupuna felt at the passing of a great Cook Islander.

”They say it’s going to rain when a warrior passes away. The heavens will weep. And indeed they did – it poured buckets and oceans of tears,“ he said to a National Auditorium filled with people who were there to pay their last respects to the late Sir Terepai Maoate, who was a knight of the British Empire, former prime minister, Cook Islands Christian Church deacon, planter, father, grandfather and Golden Oldies enthusiast.

Government arranged a state funeral for the politician whose commitment to serve his people – cultivated during his time working as a medical doctor – is a legacy he leaves behind and an inspiration to his family.

Doctors, politicians, professors, traditional and religious leaders, former prime ministers, the current prime minister, sportspeople and the people of Takitumu attended the service, which exceeded three hours.

Notable guests of honour included Chief Justice Tom Weston and National List MP Alfred Ngaro, and condolences were read out from the embassies of Pakistan, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mexico, Turkey and Japan, and from the Apostolic Nunciature in Wellington and the International Maritime Organisation.

Prime Minister Henry Puna, who is also the brother of Lady Marito, was first to take the podium.

He admitted that he had been preparing for the occasion for a while, as Sir Terepai had been vocal about his imminent death.

”To me that was a clear demonstration of the man’s courage and dignity to accept the inevitable with grace and purpose and yet to carry on with his life,“ Puna said, calling Sir Terepai a ”great son of Takitumu“ and an ”exemplary father figure for the Cook Islands“.

”I believe he had a vision for the what the Cook Islands could be, a Cook Islands where our people enjoy a greater quality of life,“ he said, recalling a few of the highlights of Sir Terepai’s political career – his successful negotiation with the Italian government to write off the Cook Islands’ debt, his push for seabed mining, his signing of the Centenary Declaration and his bid for extending the Cook Islands’ continental shelf. All were executed with ”unbounded energy“ and in the name of ”serving our country“.

He was a ”formidable political adversary“ whose first priority was always his people.

”Mistakes he did make, for sure, but hey, we all make mistakes, don’t we? The sincerity of his intentions could not be faulted,“ Puna said.

A ”man of the people“ who stayed close to his family and his village even in the political whirlwind, ”he had a legendary commitment to serve his country while retaining a humble lifestyle and profile“.

Puna said he will continue to toast Papa Pai’s courage, steadfastness and devotion.

”His contribution to the people, the country, the wider Pacific and indeed the international community will always live on in our collective memory.“

Ngamau ‘Aunty Mau’ Munokoa recalled Sir Terepai as her political mentor and as a shrewd finance minister who told his fellow parliamentarians to avoid stopovers in Auckland as ”hotels cost money“ and pressed them to justify their travel plans.

”I admire him as one of the best leaders I have worked with,“ she said.

Opposition leader Wilkie Rasmussen called Sir Terepai ”handsome“ in a Marlon Brando kind of way, with ”hands shaped by his toiling of the earth“ and a ”commanding presence as a wise statesman of this country“.

Sir Terepai was well-versed in the ”colourful“ game that is Cook Islands politics.

”His political life symbolised the colourful nature of Cook Islands politics,“ Rasmussen said. ”He swung from one end of the pendulum to another. He was prime minister and removed, deputy prime minister on three separate occasions, cabinet ministers, leader of the opposition and Democratic Party and removed from both, he resigned several times... what a man.“

Sir Terepai was successful in his career and in educating and raising his children. He was involved in ”the traditional world“ in his capacity as a titleholder (Maoate Mataiapo), and able to ”traverse both worlds“ with ease.

”You go to Ngatangiia and you will feel his presence almost everywhere you walk in that village,“ Rasmussen said. He noted that Sir Terepai’s extensive involvement with his people on every level earned him knighthood, and for good reason.

”What I hope is that we remember him as a warrior, as a man who had a passion and commitment to this beautiful country of ours.“

Chief Justice Tom Weston, who flew to Rarotonga specifically for the state funeral, conveyed his condolences and those of the judiciary of the Cook Islands.

He used words like ”sparkling“, ”eloquent“ and ”charming“ to describe the late Sir Terepai.

”These are all words that capture the man as he was and will remain in our memory,“ he said, recalling his first meeting with Sir Terepai about 13 years ago.

To Weston, Sir Terepai was a ”remarkable man“ with ”enormous courage“, a ”man who lived for the Cook Islands and whose passion for the Cook Islands was extraordinary“.

”He could stride on the world stage and carry the mana of the Cook Islands with him. He could stride his plantation and have the same mana.“

Norman George, who was elected to parliament in the same year as Sir Terepai, said he enjoyed a ”love-hate relationship“ with the late politician. George was candid and cracked jokes about Cook Islands politics, drawing fits of laughter from those gathered at the auditorium.

He remembered Sir Terepai as ”stubborn, aggressive, relentless and unforgiving“, as a man who had no tolerance for failure. He remembered Sir Terepai’s quirks – the way he would silently absorb an argument or debate and at its conclusion intervene with his famous ‘Aria...’, the way he would speak for 25 minutes during question time in parliament so as to deprive the opposition of the opportunity to ask any more questions, his ability to put on a ”face of innocence“ when political controversy made headlines.

He remembered that Sir Terepai sacked him, then shook his hand and together they shared a laugh. ”The next morning he personally visited me in my office and handed me my dismissal notice,“ George recalled, adding that six months later Sir Terepai himself was ousted by the same politicians who reportedly encouraged him to sack George.

”Treachery is like rum and Coke in the Cook Islands,“ George joked.

He commended Lady Marito’s strength, as Papa Pai’s ”soul mate“ and ”protector“ and ”guardian angel“.

”If you say the wrong things about her Pai you will hear about it. You will get a phone call and if you happen to be on air she’ll ring that line direct and say whatever she thinks of you,“ George said.

Switching to a more serious tune, he called Sir Terepai a self-driven achiever who leaves a ”towering reputation of exceptional leadership“.

”What a huge tamanu tree has fallen. What a man.“

Dr Joe Williams, himself a former Cook Islands prime minister, recalled the two greatest medical achievements of Sir Terepai’s life.

The first was the eradication of the Aitutaki filariasis, a condition that once plagued 46 percent of the population. Together, Dr Williams and Dr Maoate orchestrated mass treatments, and managed to create a model that was later replicated in other Pacific countries and adopted by the World Health Organisation.

The auditorium broke into applause for an ”audacious pioneer“ in the field of Cook Islands medicine. Dr Williams also spoke of Sir Terepai’s advocacy in spearheading the formation of the Cook Islands Prostate Foundation.

Dr Maoate’s son, also Dr Maoate – Dr Teariki ‘Kiki’ Maoate – was last to speak.

”I don’t know how you guys put up with him. I don’t know how my mother put up with him,“ he joked, noting that his mother’s patience was a lesson for all her children in dealing with their own spouses.

He explained the Cowan and Maoate genealogies, and talked of the good old days growing up with his father in Aitutaki. He called yesterday an occasion devoid of excessive sorrow, as it was ultimately just a celebration of life.

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