Tribute to Mrs Lusiana Turaga by Fr John McEvoy

Another stalwart gone to God – Lusiana Turaga.
 
Lusi grew up in the Raiwaqa parish and was very involved in Church life. She was involved from her youth in Catholic Youth organizations. (See photo with the St Agnes Youth Group way back in the early 1970s). Through this involvement she visited Japan and New Zealand. The work also took her to the Vatican where she met Pope John Paul II.
 
Lusi on the left with the Youth of St Agnes, Parish in the early 70s. In the photo are: Seru, Julian, Joe and Maria Ah Sing, Ben Oyagawa and Timaleti Oh.
 
She was educated at St Anne’s Primary school and then St Joseph’s Secondary School, both run by the Cluny Sisters. After School, she trained as a social worker. HART (Fr Hurley’s affordable housing scheme for the poor) was getting off the ground at the time and she worked for HART as a social worker and at times as secretary to Fr Hurley. She worked a lot with women in HART and did a lot of teaching there, in practical things like helping them to make patchwork quilts and to do embroidery. She was a member of the Board of HART up to her death.
 
Fr Dermot Hurley at the starting of HART in the early 70s.
 
Her husband Mika, worked for the Government Printery. Then he moved to the Daily Post as Senior Sub-Editor. He then moved to the Fiji Sun Newspaper, also as Senior Sub Editor.
 
He also assisted with editing the Catholic Newspaper “Contact”. That is when Lusi met Mika, they married, and had 5 daughters, Maria, Rosalia, Luisa, and the twins, Sainimili and Asilika. She and Mika were ardent members and workers for St Vincent De Paul. She continued this involvement to the end.
 
Am with Lusi's twin daughters, Sainimili and Asilika on the left and some of her nieces.
 
She spent the past 14 years of her life as Registar at PRS (Regional Pacific Seminary) One staff member said, “Lusi was everything to us at PRS. Her patience and calmness kept us all cool in difficult situations". Her organizational abilities shone here, setting up meetings for staff and Senate meetings. She kept careful track of every mark from every professor and making sure that each student got their correct marks”. Last December PRS celebrated its Golden Jubilee. Even though she had been diagnosed with cancer in 2021, Lusi ignored this and worked to the very end, helping to make the Golden Jubilee of PRS a success.
 
Lusi in front row (3rd from left) with the lay staff PRS in 2017 with the then Rector Fr Michael O'Connor.
 
 
Lusi's funeral gathering (reguregu) by the Archbishop and students of PRS.
 
Finally, her daughters described Lusi as a simple woman. She didn’t care for fancy things or to be in the spotlight for anything. She did things discreetly and quietly. She was also a stern woman. Her grandchildren meant everything to her. Like Mika, Lusi instilled in her children the spirit of compassion and service. Both would help wherever they could. Her conversations around her faith were inspiring. She would always say, you must be of service to others, especially those in need, because the gift of your life came from God. She would always say, in the final analysis, it will never be about your fancy worldly things. It will be so much more than that.
 
By January, she had planned her funeral, the hymns, that she wanted and how she wanted it, down to the last detail. For her, the most last important thing in her life was the celebration of her Requiem Mass.
 
In Our Lady of Fatima Church, Nadera Parish.
 
Archbishop Peter Loy Chong was the main celebrant at her Mass in Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Nadera. In attendance was Fr Simon Mani the Rector of the Regional Pacific Seminary and the entire staff and student body of PRS. Fr Donal McIlraith, by special request of Lusi’s daughters did her eulogy. He also gave a powerful homily on the Eucharist and the Priesthood and showed how Lusi lived her life in the service of both because of her love for Jesus and Jesus in the Eucharist.
 
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About 20 priests concentrated Mass with Archbishop main celebrant.
 
 
Proclaiming the word of God Suzanne Leger and Lusi's namesake
 
 
Fr Donal at the homily
 
Fr Donal McIlraith giving the eulogy
 
The choir consisted PRS students
 
 
 
 
 
 

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