Maria Suluvia Fa’auliuli - Funeral Assistance

Our dear cousin, friend and work colleague Fa’auliuli Fa’auliuli awoke to one of the most devastating circumstances a loving father and devoted husband could ever imagine. On Saturday October 5th, Maria Suluvia Fa’auliuli complained to her husband about the pain she felt at the back of her head which was not out of the ordinary for her. When Fa’auliuli insisted on taking her to the hospital that night, she refused, deciding to stay home. Maria did not want to worry her three beautiful children, Son Fa’avae 13, Daughter Sao 11, Daughter Ulalia 9, and thought it was another bout of pain she could endure.

On Sunday morning, when Fa’auliuli had woken up, he turned to his beautiful wife to wake her up for church. He instantly noticed that something was very wrong. Fa’auliuli’s heart sunk deep into his stomach as he realised his wife of 13 years had passed away in her sleep. For many people at the age of 35, this wouldn’t have registered so quickly.

Fa’auliuli’s life has been quite different to many others his age. 7 years ago, almost to the day, Fa’auliuli slept in the room next to his cousin, Soloa, after he first arrived in Australia. At the young age of 22, Soloa hadn’t gotten out of bed at 11am. Fa’auliuli went to check on him and found he had passed away in his sleep. Finding such a young and otherwise vibrant young man dead in his sleep due to heart failure was a devastating blow to Fa’auliuli and their close-knit family.

Fa’auliuli’s one wish he kept close to his heart was for his children to have the sense of childhood he never had. Simply, he wanted his kids to grow up with both parents. At the age of 8, Fa’auliuli’s mother passed away from heart disease, leaving his father to raise him and his 4 siblings. After Fa’auliuli had turned 21, another tragedy visited his family when his dad passed away from an unexpected stroke.

Fa’auliuli went on to fall in love with his beautiful wife Maria who also experienced her own pain of losing a parent. When Maria was 9, her mother passed away due to a number of health conditions. After Fa’auliuli & Maria got married, they were both overjoyed to give Maria’s father his first grandchildren. Finally, a blessing that could bring some much-needed light to their world. Unfortunately, last year, both Maria’s sister and father passed away not long after each other, her sister from health conditions and father from natural causes.

Fa’auliuli & Maria moved to Australia from New Zealand in March 2017 to start a new life with their family. They only took one family holiday back to New Zealand in 2019 for a week. Being the main provider with a young family, Fa’auliuli spent all his time working night shifts at a warehousing job, and they both spent weekends driving for Uber eats.

On Sunday morning, Fa’auliuli and his children were invited to stay with a family friend to support him in this time of anguish. It has now been 5 days since Marias passing, Fa’auliuli has not had the strength to return to his home to collect his belongings. The very thought weighing down a once strong, vibrant & cheerful young man.

Fa’auliuli has since faced one of the many tough challenges he is set to endure, telling his children that their mother had passed away. His tears poured down his cheeks as his youngest child pleaded with him for her mother to have one more chance at life. The feeling of sorrow in the pit of his stomach as he wrapped his arms around his baby girl, telling her “This is why we go to church, so when we die, we can see her again in heaven.”

Despite the tragedies Fa’auliuli has faced, he has always brought an indescribable amount of love and laughter to everyone he meets. His laugh is constant and infectious. It cuts through everything, and he raises up those around him, simply by being the beautiful person, his family, friends and work colleagues know him to be.

We have helped Fa’auliuli put this page up to raise funds for Maria's funeral. Fa’auliuli & Maria put all their money into raising their children, like many others their age, thinking they had plenty of time to save for their retirement and future. Any donations are greatly appreciated and will go towards reducing the financial burden of a funeral on the family, allowing Fa’auliuli to start on the road to recovery while supporting his children as they grief their mother.