Farewell for father of four

A father of four has been farewelled by his family and community in Upper Hutt.

Rami Hamidah was killed on June 8 when he was hit by a van at the intersection of River Rd and the Totara Park turn-off.

The father of four was farewelled at Makara Cemetery on June 9. A farewell video was recorded at the ceremony and posted to Youtube.

‘‘This is life. The Muslims believe this is one stage,’’ Sheikh Haleed said in the video.

‘‘Once we go into the grave, this is the stage that we are waiting for everyone else to join us.’’

The Islamic community rallied around Hamidah’s family after the accident. A family friend within the Al-Ameen Islamic Development New Zealand group set up a Givealittle page in the days following Hamidah’s death.

‘‘He was a devoted father to four children Ibrahim, 15, Abdul Rahman, 9, Yousef , 8, Yasmeen, 4, a loving husband for his wife Abeer, a caring son for an aged mother and a fatherly figure for his young brother.

‘‘This loss is devastating for his dear ones and there are no words to describe the pain in the family. Rami was also known for his bubbly enthusiasm to his colleagues and his loss is deeply felt at work. Rami’s family is deeply grateful for all the help and support received over the last few days.’’ The Givealittle page has raised nearly $9000. The Al Ameen Islamic Development community group in Wellington also ran a drive to support Hamidah’s family.

‘‘The recently deceased Rami Hamidah is definitely missed by the community,’’ group member Ahmad Shahri said.

Hamidah worked as a database administrator at Datacom and his workmates joined the ceremony at Makara Cemetery.

A police spokeswoman said inquiries were ongoing.