To the Whanau of our friend Richard . Richard was a very dear friend of ours and became part of our Whanau. My sister and I are very sadden to here about his passing. He was more than a friend he was our brother And mentor. He was always there if we needed to talk or video chat specially when we lost our father 6 months ago. We are from Taranaki Waitara and he nick named us the (Twin Towers) liz &beck... We wished we could be there, but because of this covid only one of us was vaccinated. We are also cousins to Hine and Val newton. On our 50th birthday he made our taungas which we would cherish for ever. So we send our sympathy to his children and extended Whanau R.I.P our brother Richard Karena

Toku Papa Ka kawea ano e te ao he ra pouri. Ehara tenei i te mutunga o to maatau korero. So many question left unanswered, all our whakapapa gone with you, the relationship we were building… just gone!! My words fail me right now so let me share the first memory I have of you. Nana Pops tangi, I remember all the cuzzies running around excited because ‘Uncle Richard’ was about to turn up, I had no idea what to expect so I hid behind a tree, then I hid behind Aunty porkey just as you approached her, when you saw me I remember your exact words, “Is that one of mine”? I remember thinking (to myself obviously) How many do you have??? My 11th birthday i received my first birthday card from you, it was pink with the biggest butterfly on it, you also sent me a Waka Huia with it, you even carved a dolphin for the handle because someone had told you it was my favourite animal at the time. I was so proud to receive something from you. A massive part of me has been stolen. I may not have known you as well as everyone else and you might not know much about my life but please know this, I think about you everyday, I’ll always love you and this is not goodbye!! Ka tutaki ahau ki a koe i nga keeti, hoatu toku aroha ki a Aunty raua ko Matua. Aroha ana ahau ki a koe.