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Te Arawa and Tuwharetoa are mourning the death of one of their wahine toa, long serving Rotorua district councillor and former beauty queen Maureen Waaka.
Maureen Te Rangi Rere I Waho Waaka, nee Kingi, died in Rotorua Hospital early this morning surrounded by family after suffering a stroke in Auckland on June 16.
Her condition deteriorated last week and she was returned to her home town.
Mrs Waaka served six terms on the Rotorua District Council and was standing again this year.
She received the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2001 for services to tourism and the community, and was made a Justice of the Peace in 2005.
She was a chair and trustee for two Rotorua Māori trusts, deputy chair of the Problem Gambling Foundation, a member of the Lakes District Health Board, and a member of Māori in Tourism.
The former radiographer married John Waaka in 1963, the year after she was crowned Miss New Zealand.
They have five children, 14 grandchildren and nine great grand-children.
Mrs Waaka's tangi will be held at Ohinemutu’s Te Papaiouru Marae.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
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