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Founder of Peteli Academy, Rev. Elder Dr. Pati Vaeao passes away

This  family photo shows the late Rev. Elder Dr. Pati Puia’i Vaeao sitting next to his wife of 47 years, Siafiafilelei Thompson Leasau, surrounded by family members
reporters@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Rev. Elder Dr. Pati Puia’i Vaeao, who has been serving as president of the First Samoan Full Gospel Pentecostal Church (FSFGPC) Inc., since 1987, passed away peacefully on Feb. 2nd at the Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California.

He was 74 and had been serving in the ministry for 52 years, starting with the establishment in 1967 of the FSFGPC in Ofu, Manu’a — where he was born, according to his family.

“He is a man of integrity, a man that is so passionate of his calling and his love for his people,” Rev. Vaeao’s son, Pastor Daniel Vaeao told Samoa News yesterday. Pastor Vaeao quoted a verse from the Bible, for his father: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course...”

Rev. Vaeao’s daughter, Lealofioa’ana Vaeao-Feagia’i said, “My daddy didn’t tell me how to live; he lived God’s Word, and I watched him do it.” Lealofioa’ana and her husband, Pastor Sam Feagia’i serve at the FSFGPC Peteli in Anchorage, Alaska.

The late reverend's children shared their father’s famous, favorite quotes including: “Be doers of the Word” and “Walk the talk… Actions speak louder than words”.

Rev. Vaeao’s bio, provided by his children, shows a timeline of his more than five decades of ministry work, which includes the establishment of the FSFGPC grade school, Peteli Academy, in 2004 in Tafuna.

Pastor Vaeao says his father’s body is scheduled to return to American Samoa on Feb. 18 and a funeral service program will be announced soon.

Rev. Vaeao (the older brother of Manu’a District Governor, and former senator, Laolagi S. Vaeao) is survived by his wife, six children, and ten grandchildren.

Samoa News extends its condolences to the grieving family.