Margie Puriri

Margie Dora Ahmu was born in Apia, Western Samoa to Olsen and Dora Stehlin Ahmu on December 21, 1936. She passed away on November 10, 2024. At age 8 her family moved to American Samoa (during WWII) so her father could work at the US Naval Base in Pago Pago. In 1946-1948 Margie and her father went to Hawaii. She attended school in Laie and Honolulu and learned to love the Hawaiian culture and music. In 1950 she went to New Zealand with the George R. Biesinger family (they were her legal guardians). She attended Otahuhu College for two years, then Auckland Girl's Grammar School, where she graduated, after her family had immigrated to New Zealand. Margie won many awards in high school for her excellence in penmanship, typing and shorthand (Pitman). She loved playing indoor basketball and she also ran hurdles.

Margie served a Labor Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was called to serve in the construction office while the Church College of New Zealand and the Hamilton LDS Temple were being built. There she met her future husband, Ra Puriri. She worked in the Vice-Principal's office at CCNZ before she married Ra. Ra and Margie were married in 1958. They had 6 children: Ra, Moana, Colin, Michael, Hata and Telisa. They raised their children in Temple View, New Zealand. In 1973 Ra and Margie and their children immigrated to the United States. They resided in Cerritos and Lakewood, California for 5 years, then moved to Alpine, Utah in 1978.  Margie started singing with her two sisters, Olly and Sally, when they were very young. Their father taught them how to harmonize. She loved to sing solo. In her teens she sang with her two cousins, Sally; Mitzi Rivers-called The Rivers Sisters. They sang on the radio and cut several 45 rpm records. She was a member of the Amateur Operatic Society in Hamilton, NZ. She played the oldest daughter, Isabelle, in the musical "13 Daughters." She sang in the Labor Missionary Choir. She and Ra were part of the Te Arohanui performance group that helped ready the Polynesian Cultural Center for dedication in 1963, representing New Zealand. That group went on to perform in the Hollywood Bowl and on the Danny Kay Show (TV) in California. They also did performances in Utah and Idaho. She was a chorister and choir director for many years. She sang at many functions and funerals. Margie joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 1984. She retired 12 ½ years later in 1996, having toured with the choir throughout the United States and in Russia, Japan, Israel, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and two Presidential Inaugurations in Washington, DC. She was the first Polynesian to join the Tabernacle Choir. She and conductor Jerry Ottley shared a special relationship. They knew each other in New Zealand when he was there with his parents, while they were serving an LDS mission. Margie served faithfully in the Primary, Relief Society and MIA of the LDS church. Margie and Ra were some of the youngest ordinance workers in the NZ Temple after its dedication. She loved volunteering at the Provo MTC helping sister missionaries. 

Margie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Ra (in 2022), her youngest son Hata (in 2020) and her son Michael (in 2023). She is survived by her children, Ra (Lani), Moana Burgess (James), Colin (Coi), Kristina Puriri, Teresa Puriri, Telisa Norton (JR); She has 31 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren; her sisters Olly (Phil) Harris; and Sally Gascoigne; and Margie has numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and Aiga (Samoan relatives).

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, November 16,2024 at 1:00 PM in the Alpine 1st Ward Chapel, 890 North Heritage Hills Drive, Alpine, UT 84004.  A viewing will be held from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM on the day of the service in the Alpine 1st Ward Chapel.  Please share a memory on Margie's Tribute Wall below.  

Click the link below to join via live-stream.  

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