Born: 8 October 1963
Died: 17 February 2026
On 8th October 1963, Mele Tupou ‘Ulupano of Neiafutahi, Vava’u and Kali Fililava ‘Ulupano of Nomuka, Ha’apai and Western Samoa were gifted by God with Emanita, the sixth of their nine children.
‘Emanita attended the Sacred Heart Primary School at Neiafu, Vava’u from 1970-1975. She then studied at St Peter Chanel High School from 1976-1981.
Hearing God’s call to become a Religious, ‘Emanita responded by commencing her postulancy in 1993 at Villa Maria Convent, Nuku’alofa. On the 8th December 1993, she started her novitiate at Heretaunga in New Zealand, and on 8th December 1995, she made her first profession as a Missionary Sister of the Society of Mary at Avondale in Auckland, New Zealand.
Less than four years after her first profession, Sr ‘Emanita was missioned to Bougainville, arriving there in 1999. The peace agreement ending ten years of conflict in Bougainville had only been implemented in 1998. She was assigned to Bishop Wade High School in Tarlena and was in community with another Sister in temporary vows. The students at the school included e-combatants from the conflict, many of whom were traumatised by these experiences. Machetes had to be left at the back of the classroom! With her inner strength, Emanita was able to assist many people, especially students, to regain their trust and gradually become reconciled with themselves and with others.
On 16th February, 2002, Emanita made her perpetual profession at Tarlena, Bougainville, PNG.
From 2003 to 2006, she studied at the Divine Word University in Madang, PNG and in 2007 graduated with her BA in Religious Studies, Welfare and Education. That year she joined the Catechist Training Centre in Madang. Sadly, Emanita received her first diagnosis of cancer, but fortunately the breast cancer was all removed during surgery in Australia.
While waiting for the renewal of her visa for PNG, Sr ‘Emanita did a CPE course in Sydney before returning to Tonga in 2008, where she gave some classes at the Business College and did some pastoral visitations. Emanita was never a person to sit idle. Eventually, in November that year, she returned to PNG and was assigned to Mabiri Ministi Skul in Bougainville. In 2011, she was named Community Leader, the first of many times in this role. After her LTSR in Rome, Emanita returned to Mabiri in 2012. However, after attending the six-month Formators Course in Sydney, she returned to Mabiri to close the house. She then joined the Sisters in Arawa, before returning to the Catechist Training Centre at Madang.
In 2016, Sr ‘Emanita transferred to the Solomon Islands where she was community leader and involved in the vocation ministry, as well as outreach to groups in the parish. In August of that year, she had the first surgery on the growth on her back in Sydney. In 2017, Emanita attended a month-long programme in Rome for the Formation for Formators. After that she continued various ministries in Honiara until 2019, when she moved to Visale to help the DMI Sisters manage a project at their Rural Training Centre. She also gave classes at the DMI novitiate and cared for Sr Therese Chaloux smsm. In 2019, Emanita attended the Workshop on Elder Care in Waltham USA.
In 2020, Sr ‘Emanita returned to Honiara to be community leader, and was also involved in vocation accompaniment, as well as giving spiritual direction for some DMI Sisters. She began teaching at Bishop Epalle High School the following year, remaining in this ministry until her departure for Australia in September 2024. Two previous surgeries had shown no sign of cancer, but in 2024, the growth had turned cancerous and despite surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the cancer was found to be incurable. In April 2025 Emanita returned to Tonga to see her mother and to be with the SMSM community in Tonga.
God loved Sr Emanita in a special way, and gifted her with so many talents. She was a friendly person with a good sense of humour, loved the people she worked with, and always wanted the best out of them. It was obvious from the outpouring messages of love from everywhere, that wherever she went and whatever she did, Sr ‘Emanita put her whole heart and soul into her life as a missionary. She was a very prayerful woman who lived simply, gave generously of herself, had a calm presence and leaves us a testimony of resilience, faith and inspiring courage. Her attitude towards her illness revealed her deep faith and her desire to be of service to others. While she could get impatient with people doing ‘stupid things’, she was a wise counsellor and a welcoming presence.
Sr ‘Emanita, your 31 years of steadfast commitment to mission is a challenge and an invitation to us all. We are deeply indebted to you for being such a good example. We rejoice with pride in the gift of yourself and what you have done. This echoed from our sisters and friends from different parts of the world. It resonates very well with the message from our Superior General, Sr Cristina Giustozzi:
“Even during her illness, Sr ‘Emanita continued to serve. Despite the limitations imposed
by the aggressiveness of the disease, she never ceased to ask how she could still be useful
to the Lord. She bore her suffering with remarkable serenity, without complaint, offering
her weakness with the same dedication that had characterized her entire missionary life.
Her quiet strength and interior peace remain a powerful testimony for us all”.
We have so much to thank God for the person you were, dear Emanita, truly someone who lived the spirit of Mary to the full as an SMSM. The following article from our Constitutions expresses your life so well!
“Mary’s one desire was to do the will of the Father which she sought throughout her life,
and to co-operate with her whole being in the saving work of her Son.
Our lifelong task is to learn to put the interests of the Lord before all else, trying to discern His will each day to forget ourselves in loving Him.” (Const. Article 51)
Sr Sesilia ‘Alamoti smsm Sr Jennifer Clarke smsm
