‘Heart of our family’: Pacific leader Vui Elena Fa’amoe-Timoteo dies after decades of service

Pacific community leader and education advocate Vui Nafouaina Elena Fa’amoe-Timoteo has died peacefully after a battle with cancer. She was 53.

Her death has left a lasting mark across Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider Pacific community.

A founding member of the Pacific Leadership Forum (PLF), Vui was described by her family as “the heart of our family”, along with the Bible verse from Proverbs 31:29: Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.

Her work covered education, health, disability, and community support - quietly but with great impact, Pakilau Manase Lua, a Tongan community leader, says.

He says her death is a huge loss for her family and for the Sāmoan, Tongan, and wider Pacific community.

“Vui was an amazing advocate in many spaces, particularly in education, disability, health, and in the community,” Pakilau says. “She worked behind the scenes, wasn’t someone who sought the limelight, just did things quietly, but with such effect.”

Vui Elena Fa'amoe-Timoteo is being remembered for her community advocacy and quiet leadership. Photo/Accelerate Aotearoa

Vui and her husband, Mati, helped set up the PLF in 2015, supporting initiatives aimed at strengthening Pacific leadership and wellbeing.

Teleiai Edwin Puni, PLF chair, says Vui’s contribution was important.

“Vui had served with her husband, Mati, since the beginning of the Pacific Leadership Forum. Her service was quiet but constant, and her commitment to Pacific leadership was deeply felt,” Puni says.“Our thoughts and prayers are with Mati and the family. Manuia lau malaga.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Vui was especially significant in supporting Pacific communities with vaccination efforts, working with the PLF and the Pacific Resilience and Coordination Team, Pakilau says.

Decades of service

Born in the United States, Vui, of Sāmoan heritage, grew up in the US before studying at Western Washington University and the University of Auckland.

Pakilau recalls knowing Vui and her husband for more than 30 years. “They’re part of my family, their children and my children grew up together. We’re just devastated, but she can finally rest at peace.”

Vui worked for more than 20 years with the Ministry of Education, supporting schools with high Māori and Pacific student numbers to improve achievement.

She later served as Waikato University’s Senior Policy Adviser for Pacific. Most recently, she worked with the charity, Accelerating Aotearoa.

Watch: Pakilau Manase Lua urges communities to attend a Covid-19 vaccination event.

She is survived by her husband Mati Tuautu Filemoni, their children, and extended family.

Family visitation at their home on Somerfield Street in Ellerslie: today and Wednesday from 11am to 8.30pm, and Thursday from 11am to 4.30pm ahead of the family service, which will be held on Thursday from 6pm-10pm at St Martin’s Presbyterian Church Hall on Wyllie Road in Papatoetoe, Auckland.

The funeral service takes place on Saturday, 17 January, at 10.30am at St Martin’s.

Vui Fa’amoe-Timoteo’s life was one of steady service, quiet leadership, and devotion to her family and Pacific communities - a legacy those who knew her say will be remembered for generations.