Dr Rangimārie Te Turuki Arikirangi Rose Pere : educator, conservationist; b July 25, 1937; d December 13, 2020 When Rose Pere was born in the remote Eastern Bay of Plenty settlement of Ruatāhuna, her mother was told that she would be a boy. But Pere’s birth on July 25, 1937, surprised them all, and her mother was taken down to the river where a tohuna tossed a branch into the water. Instead of going downstream, the branch pushed up against the current. That's how Rose Pere would be in this world – she’d stand up against the odds. READ MORE: Known for her brightly coloured clothes, high intelligence and brilliant sense of humour, she would become Dr Rangimārie Te Turuki Arikirangi Rose Pere, an educator, conservationist, tohuna and academic.