KAWERAU is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand.
The town is situated 100km SE of Tauranga and 58km E of Rotorua

Kawerau is one of the youngest towns in New Zealand. It was founded in 1953 as a mill town for the new Tasman pulp and paper mill. The site for the mill was chosen because of the ready availability of geothermal energy, water from the Tarawera River and the large supply of pine timber from the nearby Kaingaroa forest.

Unlike most other towns of its size, Kawerau was carefully planned before construction. The town was built with an impressive number of facilities, to accommodate a multinational specialist workforce.

The mill continues to drive the local economy and greatly influences the fortunes of the town. The town's population peaked in the early 1980's (8718 in the 1981 census) but has declined significantly since then due to the restructuring of the mill and associated industries

welcome to Kawerau PHOTO GALLERY

the Kawerau Cemetery Database (pdf file)

the V surnames in the Kawerau cemetery as at 10 January 2009:

van den ANKER - Antonius Franciscus
- born 31 May 1927
- died 30 May 1982 aged 1 day from 55
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 6 - LOT - 44

van den ANKER - Rose Mary
- born 6 November 1930
- died 19 August 2005 aged 74
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 6 - LOT - 44

van den BROEK - Franciscus Mathys
- born 20 February 1920
- died 5 October 1993 aged 73
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 8 - LOT - 33

van den BROEK - Maria Gertrude Eliza
- born 4 March 1921
- died 27 April 1990 aged 69
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 8 - LOT - 33

van den BROEK - Theodorus J. A.
- born ?
- died 12 April 1997
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 9 - LOT - 31

van DUIN - Simon
- born 10 June 1928
- died 18 August 1997 aged 69
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 9 - LOT - 26

van GULICK - Donna Faye
- born ?
- died 22 November 1984
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 5 - LOT - 31

van GULICK - Mavis Florence
- born 20 November 1930
- died 28 August 1974 aged 43
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 5 - LOT - 31

VIITAKANGAS - Aino Elma
- born 4 December 1919
- died 31 August 2003 aged 83
- buried BLOCK W4E - LOT - 38

VIITAKANGAS - Kaario Llmari
- born 1 February 1922
- died 3 June 1992 aged 70
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 8 - LOT - 13

VIITAKANGAS - Maria Sanelma
- born 29 June 1920
- died 12 August 2007 aged 87
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 8 - LOT - 13

VIITAKANGAS - Rauli Erik
- born ?
- died 20 July 2003
- buried BLOCK A - SECTION 8 - LOT - 13

VIITAKANGAS - Vilho Johannes
- born 16 June 1918 in Nivala, Finland
- died 28 November 1979 aged 61 in kawerau
- buried BLOCK W4E - LOT - 38