Tufuga Samuelu Atoa of the Pesega 5th Ward, Pesega Samoa Stake, was awarded the Western Samoa Order of Merit in June by Head of State Malietoa Tanumafili II.
Brother Atoa was honored in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding service to the people of Western Samoa.For the past 40 years, Brother Atoa has shown "tireless commitment and personal devotion to the development and promotion" of sports in his homeland. In 1994 he was presented with the Distinguished Service Award by the Western Samoa Sports Federation and the National Olympic Committee. Brother Atoa currently represents his country at the planning meetings for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.
The honored sportsman has also had a long and distinguished career as a public servant. As chairman of the public service commission, Brother Atoa aided Western Samoa on its road to political and administrative independence, and has also served on the board of the National University of Samoa, as government director of Polynesian Airlines Limited, and as director of the Western Samoa Development Bank. Brother Atoa holds a bachelor's degree in science and a master's degree in education from BYU.
Brother Atoa's many civic responsibilities have been balanced with many years of dedicated Church service. He has twice served as a regional representative and has been a temple president, stake president and bishop. Brother Atoa is presently a temple sealer and is national director of public affairs. He and his wife, Helen, have five children and eight grandchildren.
