Salute to a greatly-respected colleague and friend - New Zealand ...

September 2004Police News The Voice of PoliceObituaries:Bernadette Rewarewa Crawford (1934-2004)Bernadette Rewarewa Crawford servedas a police officer from 1955 until1959. Along with her good friend andbridesmaid, Pat Hond, she was one ofthe first Maori women to serve in theNZ Police Force.She wore many different hats duringher lifetime, undoubtedly the mostimportant as a much-loved mother toher nine children and grandmother toher 13 mokopuna (grandchildren).Her colleagues knew her as Bernie andher whanau called her Rewa. She wasgiven her middle name after a tree thatfell and killed one of her ancestors.Bernie was born on February 11, 1934to farming parents at Waihi Village,near Tokaanu. She was one of eightgirls and six boys born to Hiriwetiri andMaata Mariu (nee Meihana). Hiriwetiridelivered all 14 children at the familyhome.Early lifeBernie’s early life was a blend of astrong Maori upbringing with Catholicinfluences, which was reinforcedthrough her education at St Joseph’sMaori Girls’ College at Taradale, Napier.It was a hard life for her parents,scraping a living from the land withso many mouths to feed. Four of thechildren were the subject of whangai(adoption out to relatives) to help withtheir upbringing.Ko Tongariro te maunga, Ko Taupote moana, Ko Tuwharetoa te iwi, KoTurumakina te hapu, Ko Te Heuheute tangata. This was the manner inwhich Bernie identified who she was.Tongariro is her mountain, Taupo hersacred waters, Tuwharetoa her people,Turumakina her closest relations and TeHeuheu their paramount leader.When she left college she took a job inthe Post Office at Taumarunui beforemoving south to the ‘big smoke’ whereshe carried on her postal career at theHerd Street Post Office.At 21, Bernie Mariu, joined the Police,leaving her Post Office job on a Fridayin November, 1955 and turning upin her police uniform the followingMonday at Wellington Central PoliceStation. Later she worked in LowerHutt. That first day on the job was ahuge shock to her, she admitted later,saying that she “just kicked around the• Bernie Crawford.station for a couple of hours feelingbrassed off” because she didn’t knowwhat to do. The sergeant in charge toldher to go for a walk up the street andshe asked: “By myself?” She inquiredwhat would happen if she “came acrosssomething”, to which the sergeantreplied: “You’ll manage”.And manage she did.Colleagues, who started after her, foundBernie a fine mentor. She was a peopleperson. Her children remember her thesame way, with the fondest of affection,as a person of great mana who gave andgave and never counted the cost.MarriageWhile stationed in Wellington she mether future husband, Hutana, a sailor inthe NZ Navy. He was a cousin of herflatmate. They were married in 1960 atSt Peter’s and Paul’s Catholic Church inLower Hutt. They had nine children, sixboys and three girls. One of her sons,Mark, was killed in a car accident on theEast Coast when he was 18 years of age.For several years, when she had youngchildren, Bernie worked long hours asa cleaner on a nightshift. She would getup at 2.00 am and go to her cleaningjob, come home at 7.00 am in time toget her older children off to school andthen mind the younger ones until theolder children finished school at 3 p.m. atwhich time she might be able to catch anap. The money she saved was spent onputting all her children through boardingschool. This devotion to providing herchildren with a good education alsorubbed off with the teaching of a strongwork ethic - by example.Everyone was welcome in the Crawfordhousehold, despite the obvioushardships she and Hutana faced inbring up nine children. Friends andrelatives say the Crawford home waslike going to the marae - there wasalways a warm welcome.Marae building projectDespite her extremely busy life, Berniestill found time to fundraise for thebuilding of the Tuhono Marae at ViardCollege, Porirua. Along with her homemarae of Waihi Village, it held a specialplace in her heart.She was proud of all her children andone of them, Luke, followed her into thePolice. He has been a police officer for 23years and currently serves in Wellington.Bernie was a shy and retiring woman ofgreat humility and this was no more inevidence than when she refused to be apatron of a recruit wing - not once but onseveral occasions - because she felt shewas not worthy of the honour. Anyonewho knew her, knew otherwise becauseshe was an ordinary woman who haddone extraordinary things. But she wouldnot have bar of it.Bernadette Rewarewa Crawford willbe remembered as a generous womanwho was clearly at home in the big cityas much she was on her local marae.She transcended the Maori and Pakehacultures and thereby had the best ofboth worlds. Because of her upbringingat Waihi Village, she clearly understoodwhat it was to be Maori and when theurban drift took her to Wellington sheallowed it to bring value not only to herown life but to the life of others.It is said that the life of one we love isnever lost in death, for its influence goeson through all the lives it ever touched.Bernie Crawford touched and influencedmany lives. Many, who had the goodfortune to meet her, will remember herwith great affection.Her husband, Hutana, eight of herchildren and 13 grandchildren surviveher.– By Steve Plowman (Sources: LukeCrawford, NZ Listener and Policecolleagues)158