The first thing you need to know about the Tongan people is that no matter how far they are from their South Pacific home, they stay together.
Euless happens to be home to more than 3,000 Tongans, many of whom settled here in the mid-'70s. They came for a better life for their families and jobs with the airlines and at DFW International Airport. They stayed because, as Penilotu "Peni" Asaeli puts it, after a few years, "I had Texas in my heart."
Two generations later, they are senior citizens. As they have always done, they remain true to the practices of their native country even as they have built a thriving life here.
"We never put anyone in a nursing home or senior home," says Asaeli, who became paralyzed after a car accident. "That is not our way."
Breaking News
Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.
Or with:
Google
Facebook
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Asaeli and his wife, Losa, live with a daughter and her husband in Euless. "I can't do a lot, but our children take care and help us," he says.
One of his daughters, Mele Rivera, 42, remembers coming to Euless when she was 4.
"Our family has always lived together," she says. Her parents lived with her for a while, then when Rivera married, they moved in with her brother. Now they live with another sister.
"Very seldom does a Tongan senior go to assisted living communities," says Ofa Faiva-Siale, the special projects coordinator for the city of Euless. "Seniors generally live at home with their families unless they need major medical assistance. My father-in-law lives with me and my husband."
Faiva-Siale's parents live with her sister's family. As in many cultures, Tongan seniors tend to move in with their daughters.
...
2 images
The long journey home
Why did they travel from Tonga, a Polynesian island off the coast of New Zealand, to North Texas, a full 21 hours and 6,000 miles away? The key is the airport. It was an obvious choice, says Etivese "Vi" Heimuli, who moved here in 1987. "Many Polynesians came to work for American so they could have flight benefits that allowed them to travel back and forth to home."
The flight benefits are vital to Euless' Tongan community because older relatives have obligations back home that must be fulfilled despite living so far away, Faiva-Siale says.
"My father-in-law has familial duties -- an obligation -- to return to Tonga for all family celebrations, from weddings and funerals to birthdays and graduations." Last year he flew to New Zealand, Tonga and Hawaii for family occasions. "He has a role to play at these gatherings," she says.
Staying in communication with their native land is important to the Tongan Americans.
"We never lose our Tongan background," Asaeli says. "We raised our kids in the Tongan culture. That is our way. We are one big family. All fathers are our fathers, all our children are brothers and sisters, even if we are not blood relatives."
Landing in Euless
Peni and Losa Asaeli, both 70, came to the United States in 1981. Initially, they landed in California. They moved to Euless in 1984, a transition that had some rough spots. Among other things, "Texas was too hot and too cold," he says. He got a job at Alliance in Fort Worth, servicing and overhauling planes.
He later went to work at American Airlines, and his wife got a job with Marconi Communications. The couple belonged to the United Methodist Church in Tonga and immediately felt welcome by the fellowship at the Tongan United Methodist Church in Euless. All the while, Asaeli says, his flight benefits helped the couple stay in touch with family back home.
Faiva-Siale's father-in-law, Louniutaha "Niu" Siale, is a self-sufficient 79-year-old. He left Tonga for Hawaii in 1980, then spent some time in Salt Lake City before coming to Euless, where he worked as a landscaper. His children joined him in 1984, and all remain in the North Texas area to this day.
He goes to the Euless Family Life Center regularly to walk and lift weights. When it's nice outside, he tends his garden, which includes taro, potatoes and carrots as well as two peach trees and a lemon tree; he shares the produce with his family. Siale also enjoys listening to Tongan radio and keeping up with Tongan religious programming, news and music.
Faith at the center
Church provides a key center of activity for many area Tongans. Faiva-Siale counts nine Tongan churches in the Mid-Cities, encompassing a number of religions -- United Methodist, Catholic, Mormon, Pentecostal and Baptist. "Church plays a major role in the lives of our seniors," she says. "It's the hub where people go, not just for religion but for socializing and family."
Her father-in-law concurs. At first, Siale attended a nondenominational church. "We just wanted to pray to God and sing in Tongan," he says. His daughter-in-law says this church includes members of the Catholic, United Methodist, Mormon and Church of Tonga faiths, who all gather on Sundays to worship, sing and hear preaching in the Tongan language. It was here that many Tongans developed friendships when they first arrived in Euless. Today, Siale attends the Wesleyan Free Church of Tonga.
Asaeli says the church is a major part of his life, too.
"Church is the first thing we knew back in the Kingdom of Tonga. ... We are all children of God," he says. Despite being so far from his native land, he considers it a blessing to be living in Euless.
"We may have been foreigners in this area, but the city welcomed our culture," he says.
'We take care of our own'
Etivise "Vi" Heimuli, 42, is the youngest of 14 siblings. She moved to Euless when she was 7. Like so many Tongans, her father worked for American Airlines. Her parents, now in their 80s, live with one of her older sisters, and all of her siblings have taken turns caring for their folks. Most still live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. "We are all very close."
Heimuli says that the 60s and 70s are not considered old in the Tongan culture. But "just in the last five years, age is catching up with my parents," she says.
Her dad, 88, gave up driving about three years ago. Her mom, 84, now has chronic neuropathy in her lower legs and uses a wheelchair.
"We are very careful about germs, with our large family coming in and out of the house. It's so easy for my parents to get sick," she says.
Her dad is good about exercise, says Heimuli, who with her husband runs a fitness boot camp at the Euless Family Life Center. "Dad walks the area trails with one of our relatives and walks to the store with hardly any assistance, sometimes a cane." He also goes to exercise at the Euless recreation center and works out at home with light weights.
In the Tongan culture, senior centers are not considered a necessity, says Faiva-Siale. "It is our tradition and custom not to call on others for help. We take care of our own. [Seniors] remain an essential part of the family, making decisions and giving counsel on family matters. They remain a part of our lives and their grandchildren's lives until they pass away at home."
817-380-9208
Service Areas
