Local Pages
Hamilton Couple on the 2021 New Year Honours List
Owen and Hoki Purcell receive the Queens’s Service Medal for their work with kaumātu.
Lasalo Owen Purcell and Hokikau Kataraina Purcell, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from the Hamilton, New Zealand area, have each been awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for services to seniors and Māori.
The Queen’s Service Medal is awarded by the New Zealand government to acknowledge and reward volunteer services to the community. In 2021, Owen and Hoki Purcell were among 154 recipients honoured for their significant achievements in community work.
Brother and Sister Purcell are founding members of Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust, which was established in 1997.
The trust provides culturally focused services, programmes and activities to over 600 kaumātua (elders in Māori society) within the city of Hamilton. Brother Purcell has chaired the Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust since 2012.
In addition to their community work, the Purcells are members of New Zealand Labour Missionaries Association which Brother Purcell presided over from 1999 to 2017.