Eric and Marie Tee Endowment Fund

Established in memory of Eric and Marie Tee, this fund aims to strengthen the Eastern Bay of Plenty health sector by providing scholarships and local training opportunities for those working in Aged Residential Care, Nursing, and Dentistry.

This fund is the family’s way of acknowledging the exceptional care Eric and Marie received. The family wishes to honour the dedication of their medical teams, many of whom were immigrants working hard to gain New Zealand certification. In recognition of this, preference will be given to applicants from a first-generation immigrant background.

The fund supports the Eastern Bay community by helping healthcare workers upskill, ensuring they can continue to provide meaningful connection for seniors in rest homes and support for seniors receiving care within the community.

The fund also remains flexible to respond to urgent community needs.

Scholarships are open for applications in the month of August.
Grants for group workshops/trainings are open in the month of June.

Donate to THE ERIC & MARIE TEE ENDOWMENT FUND

Their story...

From humble childhoods in rural Eastern BOP and Gisborne, Eric and Marie Tee first moved the Whakatāne shortly after their wedding in 1951.

Eric and Marie were content, accepting and always positive. Marie and Eric worked hard, were friends and a team always. Eric worked as a fitter and turner at the Board Mills. Marie was a stay at home mum, with cake tins always full, sewing, cooking and helping others.

Legacy of old-fashioned values, community-minded, family-centric. Hills, bush, sea, rivers. Sailing, bowls. Active, full life. leaving a legacy of a life well lived, always time for a game of cards, family coming first, and a great positive approach to life.

Working hard, living frugally, they raised a family (kids - Graeme, Barry and Raewyn) and were generous in the community with time and hearts. They strongly valued education. They considered themselves fortunate with honest old fashioned traditional values.

There was never a bad time for a game of cards too, often playing 500 and the Cribbage game came on holiday with them too.

They looked after each other and their family and when they couldn’t do that anymore it was their healthcare team lifting them up and there to help.

Marie and Eric were 94 and 95 respectively when they passed away, leaving a legacy of a life well lived, always time for a game of cards, family coming first, and a great positive approach to life.

Eric and Marie are survived by their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, in New Zealand and in Canada.

Giving back by helping the healthcare services that helped them in their final years.

Marie spent 3 years in the care of Mary Shapley rest home in Whakatane, and her nurses and carers were a great part of her life-giving respectful care. Marie thrived in the rest home environment, loved being social, doing exercises and chatting with the care team.

While Marie was under the care of Mary Shapley rest home Eric moved to a unit nearby, after having lived in their home in Peace Street which they built for 65 years.

This Endowment Fund is the family’s way of acknowledging the respectful care that both Marie and Eric received by the nurses, medical assistants and care team.