Captions by Tom Clarke. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 (TWINKLY MUSIC) - Coming along good, eh? That door looks good. It's beautiful. The Stan Neho Function Lounge. Not only because of the mistake him and I made, about the hole in the wall. It was more important that we name this after him, because this was the type of man he is. He was one to manaaki, to tiaki. And so, with the permission of his wife and his tamariki, they said, yes, we could name our function lounge, our catering lounge after him, the Stan Neho Function Lounge. I just really want to see the carpet pattern. The final touches to the function lounge are being added and happening ` curtains, painting, floor. - What are we ` Tuesday? It's supposed to be ready by Friday. We're not far away from the opening of our lounge, and... (SIGHS) obviously there's a lot of mahi that still needs to be done. Oh, heck. Oh, whoops. Yep. No, I'd better get off. - How are you, brother? Remember, we had our raruraru? Raruraru means problem. - I can see it stressing my husband out. - It's not consistent. Like, you've got it nice up here, and down there, it's... What's going on down there, brother. - He's definitely not a tile-layer, but he has always had an eye for detail. - If you look at that, and you see this is different. - (GRUNTS) Is it? - Yep. - What do you mean ` as in the pattern? - Yep. - How? - Oh, guys, don't make me look silly. Look at it. See? - No. - Oh, you don't? OK, sweet. - We have a Bob the Builder today. - Is it easy for us to get on the ground and help you glue it` put it together? - Obviously, he feels that he can install tiles. - Um, Jay, he can get on the ground and me... - Yeah, this would be interesting to watch. - This has got no pattern, though. Oh, OK, it's got a slight pattern. - If he gets it done, cool... - OK, well... ...but if it's looking wrong, then na we te he? - So... yeah. I mean, look, at the end of the day, it's the floor. - (CHUCKLES) - We probably won't be doing carpet tile people any favours by doing this, so let's just keep going... laying it, eh? - OK. - He knows what he wants. So it's just a matter of working with that and... fixing those finer details for him. - Oh, no, very good. (TWINKLY MUSIC) (ETHEREAL MUSIC) - Sounds like your whanau have arrived, Whaea. They'll be happy to see you. Today in our care we have the late Stella Howe, who was 74 years of age and passed away due to pneumonia. Your beautiful daughter Rannelle, she told me about your waiata being on Spotify. Whaea Stella was a singer. And honestly, she sounds so cool. You know, it's like the era of Patsy Cline, and... - I don't even know who that is. - Oh, you're so funny. She was a singer in the '60s. - Oh, that was way before I was born. - Way before. - Way before I was even thought of. - Way before both of us. She was a backing vocalist for Prince Tui Teka. She had the opportunity to travel with him, but then she fell hapu and then preferred to stay home and... be a mum. - Smell nice waiting for your family. - Beautiful. Thanks, dear. Whanau have come in to dress Whaea Stella, and I see that there's three generations here ` Whaea Stella's daughter and her tamariki. I noticed as well that they're only wahine in the room, which is pretty awesome to have and be part of. - Yeah. Do you want us to place this in the waka with her... - Yes, please. - ....or did you want us to place it on her? - Oh, no, with her. - With her? At the side? - Yeah. It's just a little something. - OK. - Thank you. - Her rings. - Thank you very much. - Aww. - There are some rings that we've given back to the whanau. - They were hers and Poppy's engagement rings and stuff. So they were always very special to me. - This mahi is rewarding because we get to be part of those moments. OK, whanau, so what I'm gonna do is hold her` just hold her legs, and then you can... - Ah yeah. - ...take the trousers up. I love dressing with whanau. I'm just gonna turn her this way, and you're going to pull the shirt down in here. There we go. There's a certain technique in placing clothing on. I'm just going to place this over you, Whaea, so we can get your shirt top on, all right? There we go. Is it difficult for me when I'm in there? No... There we go. ...because I've made a connection, and they're now my whanau. - Beautiful, Mum. - It's all worth it when you've made them feel their mother's number one. I love what I do. Mm. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - When I remember our childhood, I can see her when I came home from school, putting rollers in Dad's hair. He seemed to like the pampering from his baby. It is very difficult to face the world without... one of the brightest sparks being in it. - Due to Covid, some are unable to attend the funeral service for Whaea Stella, but are still able to communicate and connect through livestream. and she always cared for us whatever we did, or how we did it, she was always proud and... (SNIFFLES) she will always remember the good times we all had together, and we wish we had more time together. (SNIFFLES) - Great-Gran, I love you so much, more than you know, so much more than I can express to you. You are such an amazing person, and you didn't deserve to be sick. But you chose this time; you waited for the right moment, and you finally found it. You waited for me, for Nanna, for Mum, for your mokopuna, for your whanau, for friends to all farewell you and celebrate your life, and then you waited until we were alone and no one was with you to let go. And that's how you wanted to do it. That's the way you wanted to go. I love you. We love you. - Following the funeral service, whanau will be transferring Whaea Stella to her final resting place, to Puhoi urupa. Na rere te Whaea Stella, waiho mai matou ki muri nei. tangi atu hei. (POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES) (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) - The time has come for us to open up officially the Stan Neho Function Lounge. - Yeah. Keep going. - Or like right here? - Ioe, ioe. - For the initial opening, it was important that we had all of Stan's lights and his music and his gear up. So Jay, along with some of the whanau, are organising the setup of the lights. At the same time, Fiona's organising some kai upstairs, making her beautiful chicken curry with chop suey, which is a favourite. Auntie Laurie and her whanau are bringing a whole lot of kai in too for us all to partake in... (STRUMS GUITAR, WHISTLES MELODICALLY) ...and I'll tune the guitar. Wonderful. All good. - We weren't really told that it was gonna be named after Uncle Stan, but I think it's` Yeah, it's beautiful. It's appropriate, nothing short of what Uncle deserves. If anything, it makes me feel like he's still around. - It keeps his memory alive. For this place to be named after him, but it's only right that it is named after Stan. (MAN CALLS KARANGA) - KAIORA: There's a story ` the lights, all the little bits and pieces in here, it's got Stan's name written all over. (ALL CALL KARANGA) We can't help but feel emotional right now, because our thoughts are with him. So I'm looking forward to entering the whare with the whanau and sharing this moment with them. - (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) It's important that we do this properly, according to Maori tikanga and customs, that we have the proper prayer, the proper karakia to open the building, to allow and to make sure that only beautiful things will happen in there, that everyone who enters the Stan Neho Function Lounge may be safe, and that no harm or danger may come upon anyone or the building ` and this is why we do what we do. - ALL: # ...e te iwi e. - # Kua eke mai nei. - # Kua eke mai nei # ki runga te marae e. - # Mauria mai ra. - # Mauria mai ra # e nga mate # o te motu e... - Any production that's done here or anything that's big that has to do with te reo Maori, Uncle Stan's always the front foot. And to see him not there, it was... yeah, a bit hard to be happy to come through to unveil this place without him. Obviously, Uncle Stan is missed so much. It's still quite raw to not have him around. Yeah. - # Ru ana te whenua, whatiwhati te moana... - The formalities are over, and we can now relax. We can feel Matua Stan's wairua and remember him and celebrate him. - # Ru ana te whenua whatiwhati, hi! (TWINKLY MUSIC) - Here we go. - Is that her bag in the front there too? - No. - OK. - Today in our care, we have Patsy Victoria Nun Toon... who was 26 years old. - I just placed this little headband on her. - Beautiful. - There you go, girl. - Ah yeah. - Patsy died as a result of complications due to multiple sclerosis. It's all right, my dear. She was a cheeky girl. She bossed them around, told then what to do, whatever she wants, she'll get. Patsy was their whole world. She was pretty much their everything. - Did you meet the family yesterday? - Yeah, yeah. Lovely family. - Aww. - Today I'm assisting Fehi, and we're just doing some final checks on Patsy. Patsy is special, and we're going to give her lots of aroha and give her that special send-off. There's her little of teddy bear. - Oh, did have a teddy bear? - Yeah, I just placed it on her yesterday. - It was her favourite little toy. It would comfort her at night. I felt like that I needed to... give that back to her so, you know, that she would feel` She may not be at home, but, you know, this was home for her. I'm so happy to see the family, for them to finally get to see her, to be able to hug her, to kiss her and just... be with her, cos this was the first time for them to see her since we uplift her. (ALL SOB) She's never been away from home, never been away from her family, and I can feel that love for a family that was just wanting her home. - The whanau have brought in this beautiful dress, and it's personally made for Patsy. It's like she's Cinderella for her final send-off. She can be that... princess. Whanau have dressed Patsy. They've placed her beautiful dress on, her bracelets, and she's looking like their queen. They all had a beautiful, special relationship with her. - This is the baby, the dad's baby. They just wanted her home from the moment we had in our care. - Am I driving down, dear, or am I reversing in? - I think you're reversing in. - There we go. - Come on, brother. So we're going to go head up, eh. Yeah. Just to make sure. And you're going to slowly turn, lower the feet. - Patsy is now home, and she's with her whanau. Whanau are happy and feeling relieved that she's home now, and you can feel everyone's aroha for her. Dad's happy that she's home. They have taken time to... decorate their whare. They've made a special little atamira for her, where they can position her photos. They're making their best for Patsy. - Hey, don't break her makeup. (CHUCKLES) - She'll tell you off. - EMOTIONALLY: I did it especially for her. (SNIFFLES) - LIGHT-HEARTEDLY: She's my daughter. I'm allowed to do anything. - (CHUCKLES) - The vibe was, oh` The family was just overwhelmed. - Thank you. - See you tomorrow. - See you tomorrow. - We'll see you, guys. Get some rest, eh. - Yeah, you too. Oh, I'll give you a call tomorrow when I make my way over. - SOFTLY: OK. - See you, guys. - Patsy will remain at home for three days. - # Manaia, # manaia # le lagi... - Today is the day of Patsy's funeral service. - I'll keep on praying for you, baba, until we meet again, that's why Daddy will never say goodbye, because I know one day I'm going to hold you, my daughter. Go in peace, baby. I love you. - KAIORA: It's always difficult to witness and watch... because it's a final goodbye. It's Mum's final goodbye. It's Dad's final goodbye, to physically say goodbye to their daughter. - Are you ready? - Yeah. - That's their moment, so you've really got to take your time with that. It's not always easy, these situations. - Are we ready? Yeah? Yeah. Pallbearers come forward. - We now have arrived at the church, and everybody is waiting... for Patsy. - The church was just packed with people. Inside and outside. Couldn't believe it. - We are happy that you are now resting and are no longer in pain... (EMOTIONALLY) but sad that our home will never be the same. We'll be missing you and loving you forever, baby girl. Ia manuia lou malaga, my baby. - EMOTIONALLY: In her lifetime, Patsy taught me many things. and I had no idea (SNIFFLES) that she would impart to me some of life's most crucial lessons. She's taught me to love myself (SNIFFLES) and others unconditionally... (SNIFFLES) to be grateful for everything, no matter how tiny. (CONGREGATION SING IN SAMOAN) - Now Patsy will be going to Waikumete, where she will be laid to rest. (POIGNANT MUSIC) When we arrived at the cemetery, it started raining, but it was OK. It turned out OK. I think Patsy made it a lot easier. - Arriving at the cemetery, is a confirmation of letting go, physically, but they know that this is their final act that they can do for her. Ia manuia lou malaga, Patsy. Rest in peace. (TWINKLY MUSIC) - One of the longest-serving members of the team, which is a Ford Falcon station wagon hearse, has sadly come to the end of its service life. My wife's told me to dump her, get rid of it, but it's just one of those things which is very hard to let go. - My husband has so much love for old vehicles. It's time to let go of... one of our waka kawe tupapaku. - That's it. That's the one. - That's looking very nice. - Oh, very good. - We're going into the paint there. - Oh. I found it hard to watch the boys, you know, take the signage off ` and so roughly too. - Satisfying, eh? - Yep. - Pretty satisfying, eh? - Very satisfying. - It's one of the first cars we've had done over 350,000km up and down the country, delivering tupapaku to their families. I've slept the night in it when we were flooded. I'll keep this. I know people think, 'Oh, get over it. It's just a car,' but it was a special car that did a special type of work. - This thing. - So that one there and this bit here comes off, and these, these lights. They're still good, those lights. I'll put them on my car. The car has probably been through many, many parts of the country. It would have been through metal roads, would have been through` Some places, we had to cross the creek. It would have had to go on the beach at some point, and when you go up to urupa, the muddy tracks, so it's` You know, it should have been a four-wheel drive, but it has been many, many places. - Oh heck. Oh wow. The boys are really ripping it apart. Oh, look at it. The signs! - Looks nice, eh? - No, it doesn't look nice. There's a bit of mokemoke there that I can feel as they, sort of, just rip it apart and take it all` take everything out of it. I'm like, 'It's for real now.' - I'm just going to gift these flowers for the car. - Just to see my husband give a casket spray. - Yeah, pop them in there. - Yeah, his mamae was waka too. - Take these with you on your journey to the dump. - Normal people would feel that this is weird. - Haere te motoka. Thank you for your service, eh. Very, very good. Mm. - He just doesn't know how to let go sometimes. - Ka kite. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.