Deaths

of Islands People

Margaret Pole Fabricius In Apia, Western Samoa, on October 30, aged 88.

Also known as Aunt Maggie Fabricius, she was one of Apia’s Dest-known personalities.

The eldest daughter of W. J.

Swann, an Englishman who aecame Western Samoa’s first iharmacist, she was faced at he age of nine on the death of ter mother with the task of idping her father bring up her r ounger sisters Aggie and 4ary, and baby brother Willie, hen only a few months old.

Sister Aggie Grey, owner of Aggie’s Hotel, is among the •est-known personalities in the louth Pacific. As chance would ave it, Maggie died on the day efore Aggie’s 84th birthday, lut, in the words of a report in he Samoa Times, Aggie ‘put n a courageous face’ and arried on with the birthday arty at her hotel on the evening f October 31, even though her ster’s funeral had taken place nly that morning. Aggie’s irthday parties are among the iggest events in Apia’s social

calendar, and are attended by hundreds of guests. This year was no exception.

Maggie’s other sister, Mary Croudace, managed the Casino Hotel (now the Tusitala) for many years, and more recently operated the Apian Way which has been sold to the Nauru Government. She is now in retirement, but regularly visits the USA to see her daughter Jean and other members of the family.

Willie, now deceased, was before his retirement a trans port supervisor in Auckland.

Maggie had four children: Violet Margaret, who died at 11 months; Rassmuss Jens, who died in an accident at the age of seven; Aileen, who married Jack Wright, who was New Zealand high commissioner to Western Samoa at the time of the country’s independence in 1962; and Peter, who followed his father’s footsteps in his love of the sea and recently retired from the Union Steam Ship Co of New Zealand Ltd after 18 years spent as a seaman and chef.

Arthur Dignan Leys

In Suva, Fiji, on November 5, aged 71.

New Zealand-born Arthur Leys gave more than 40 years j service to Fiji including five years as mayor of Suva, and a period of service as chairman of the Fiji Sugar Corporation. He

also served as chairman of the Transport Control Board, the War Pensions Board, and the Fiji After-Care Fund.

During his five years as mayor of Suva (1954-59), he played a large part in putting the city on a sound financial footing, and building a spring board for subsequent rapid de velopment.

In World War II he was a captain in the 2nd Fiji Bat talion. From 1947 to 1953 he was consular agent for France in Fiji.

He was awarded the CBE in recognition of his public ser vice.

In the business world, he was chairman of Carlton Brewery (Fiji) Ltd, and Lysaghts (South Pacific) Ltd, and a Fiji director of CML Assurance Society Ltd.

Amra Singh

At Savusavu, Fiji, in August, aged 102.

One of Savusavu’s oldest residents, Mr Singh, of Dogoru estate, was born at Koronivia, one of nine children whose parents came to Fiji from India in the indentured labour ship Syria.

Bartholomew Kebaku In Arawa Hospital, North Solomons Province, Papua New Guinea, on October 25, aged 34.

Assistant Secretary of PNG’s Department of Primary Indus try, Mr Kebaku had gained a popularity which many other senior public servants might envy. A tribute in the Arawa Bulletin said: k Mr Kebaku’s many colleagues, friends and relations will always remember him with affection, for he was a very friendly man who always had a broad smile on his face.

His high-pitched laugh, which was never far away, will be greatly missed. He lived life to the full and was deeply commit ted to his work.’

Barth Kebaku married only in April 1981. His untimely death was attributed to the combined effects of pneumonia and a stomach ulcer.

Kwan Toor In Solomon Islands on September 27, aged 62.

A successful businessman of Chinese extraction, Mr Kwan Toor had lived in Solomon Islands for many years.

All business companies

owned and operated by the Kwan How Yuan company founded in Solomon Islands by Mr Kwan Toor closed for the day on September 29 out of respect for his death. These included KHY operations such as the JBM Factory and the Joy Supermarket.

B. D. Lakshman In Brisbane, Australia, on October 5, aged 81.

He was a pioneer in the fields of industry, education, and the trade union movement in Fiji.

Born at Waila, in Nausori, in 1900, Mr Lakshman was edu cated at a number of insti tutions in Fiji before leaving in 1927 for further education in India. In the course of his seven year stay he became deeply involved with the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi, and was once gaoled for four months for his activi ties. During the September visit to Fiji of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she presented to Mr Lakshman’s sons, in their father’s absence, the Indian Government’s copper plate award, given only to those who played notable roles in the nation’s independence movei ment.

After his return to Fiji, he started a model high school at Gurukul, Saweni, near Lautoka, under the auspices of the Arya Samaj. He later estate fished his own Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College at Lautoka.

He helped to establish the Fiji Kisan Sangh, the cane farmers’ organisation, in 1937-40, and served as its president in 1949. This and his many other trade union activi ties led to his election as president of the Fiji Trades Union Congress in 1959.

Branching into industry, he became the first manufacturer in Fiji to produce buttons from mother-of-pearl shells.

He became actively involved in politics with his election to the Legislative Council in 1940, and again in 1959.

In 1962, he bought a large tract of freehold land at Deuba which he later sold to a Canadian company. The Pacific Harbour resort stands on the site today. He later acquired more land at Navua, and was planning to restart commercial cane-farming for ethanol and rum-making before his death.