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Covid 19: Family of Dr Joe Williams 'struggling to come to grips' with his death, nephew says

September 7, 2020

Dr Kiki Maoate says stories about his uncle have been coming out "fast and thick" as he touched so many people.

The family of Dr Joe Williams is "struggling to come to grips" with his death, his nephew says.

Covid-19 claimed the life of the former Cook Islands Prime Minister and established Auckland GP on Friday.

Williams began his political career on the Cook Islands in 1964 and held many senior roles in the health sector in New Zealand.

He received the Queen's Services Medal in 1974 and was invested with the Companion of the Queen's Service Order in 2011 for his services to the Cook Islands community.

Born in Aitutaki, Williams went to Northland College and graduated from Otago Medical School in 1960. He later completed a Masters in Public Health at the University of Hawaii.

While his list of achievements are impressive, Williams was also a husband, father and grandfather.

He was admitted to Auckland Hospital on August 13, and died Friday night - becoming New Zealand's 24th Covid-19 death.

This morning, his nephew Dr Kiki Maoate, who is also president of the Pacific Medical Association, told TVNZ1's Breakfast "the family's struggling to come to grips with [the loss of] such a big person in their lives and the lives of others".

"But in saying that, the family are coping and we have quite a significant wraparound for the immediate family as well as our organisational structures to help the family move through this."

However, Maoate said stories about his uncle had been coming out "fast and thick" since his death.

He said Williams touched so many people, not just in the Cook Islands and New Zealand but that he'd heard stories from the Tuvalu, Samoan, Tongan and Australian communities as well.

"The stories will continue for some time and we will tell some more stories because it is in the hard drive of all of us, the memories when we look at families that he's touched - there's the grandparents and then the parents and then the children - and that memory will take a long time to actually disappear.

"The main impact for the community is the distraught and the distress of being associated with a person so kind and so generous who's no longer there."

Maoate also said discussions were being had to make sure his uncle's legacy lives on in with some sort of dedicated scholarship.

"I'm sure back in the Cook Islands there will be something else also that will be looked at to remember this great person and great uncle and husband and father to a lot of us."

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