Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 14, 2012 0:45:39 GMT 12
Paratene Bennett dies at his home
Matthew Martin | Saturday, February 11, 2012 11:30
Former Rotorua school principal and World War II veteran Paratene Jackson Bennett has died.
Also known as Para, Mr Bennett died yesterday at his home in Te Puke, with wife Dorothy by his side, after a long illness.
The former Waikite Valley, Otonga Primary and Tokoroa School principal was one of 18 children of the late Frederick Augustus Bennett who was ordained in 1929 as the Anglican bishop of Aotearoa, the country's first Maori bishop.
Mr Bennett came from a family of firsts. He was the first Maori to be granted a commission in the Royal Navy near the end of the war.
From 1982 to 1984 Mr Bennett was president of Te Arawa Trust Board, organising work schemes for young people.
He instigated the development of the Federation of Maori Authorities and helped to create Te Arawa Radio.
He was chairman of the Te Arawa Maori Returned Services League between 1993 and 2000.
He was brother of the late Sir Charles Bennett (a commander in the Maori Battalion), the late Dr Henry Bennett (a psychiatrist who headed Tokanui Hospital) the late Sir John Bennett (a leader in Maoridom) and the late Bishop of Aotearoa, Manuhuia Bennett.
He was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Maori and the community in 2003.
After the war he enrolled at teachers' training college in Wellington where he met his wife, then Dorothy Booleris. The couple embarked on their teaching careers in a two-teacher rural school in the Ureweras.
Principal of Otonga Primary for 14 years, Mr Bennett was later invited to join the Hamilton Education Board Inspectorate.
Mr Bennett's successor at Otonga Primary, Reg Nimmo, said his predecessor was a true gentleman and an excellent educator.
"He led the school with a calm dignity until he was seconded to the inspectorate of schools, such was his mana.
"It was a joy to take the school over from him, they were big boots to fill, but he was such a capable man."
Mr Bennett's body will lie at Whakaue Kaipapa Marae in Maketu from today until arrangements for a tangi have been confirmed.
www.rotoruadailypost.co.nz/news/paratene-bennett-dies-at-his-home/1268740/
Matthew Martin | Saturday, February 11, 2012 11:30
Former Rotorua school principal and World War II veteran Paratene Jackson Bennett has died.
Also known as Para, Mr Bennett died yesterday at his home in Te Puke, with wife Dorothy by his side, after a long illness.
The former Waikite Valley, Otonga Primary and Tokoroa School principal was one of 18 children of the late Frederick Augustus Bennett who was ordained in 1929 as the Anglican bishop of Aotearoa, the country's first Maori bishop.
Mr Bennett came from a family of firsts. He was the first Maori to be granted a commission in the Royal Navy near the end of the war.
From 1982 to 1984 Mr Bennett was president of Te Arawa Trust Board, organising work schemes for young people.
He instigated the development of the Federation of Maori Authorities and helped to create Te Arawa Radio.
He was chairman of the Te Arawa Maori Returned Services League between 1993 and 2000.
He was brother of the late Sir Charles Bennett (a commander in the Maori Battalion), the late Dr Henry Bennett (a psychiatrist who headed Tokanui Hospital) the late Sir John Bennett (a leader in Maoridom) and the late Bishop of Aotearoa, Manuhuia Bennett.
He was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Maori and the community in 2003.
After the war he enrolled at teachers' training college in Wellington where he met his wife, then Dorothy Booleris. The couple embarked on their teaching careers in a two-teacher rural school in the Ureweras.
Principal of Otonga Primary for 14 years, Mr Bennett was later invited to join the Hamilton Education Board Inspectorate.
Mr Bennett's successor at Otonga Primary, Reg Nimmo, said his predecessor was a true gentleman and an excellent educator.
"He led the school with a calm dignity until he was seconded to the inspectorate of schools, such was his mana.
"It was a joy to take the school over from him, they were big boots to fill, but he was such a capable man."
Mr Bennett's body will lie at Whakaue Kaipapa Marae in Maketu from today until arrangements for a tangi have been confirmed.
www.rotoruadailypost.co.nz/news/paratene-bennett-dies-at-his-home/1268740/
