Mojuntin, who is credited for the state’s success in sports in the early 1980s, had been suffering from heart complications for some time before his demise, according to his eldest son Petrus.
Petrus told FMT that Mojuntin passed away at 11.30am today after being admitted to a private medical institution the previous day.
“He was still able to speak to the nurses last night but he suffered a stroke at 3am. We were hoping he could pull through,” he said.
Despite Mojuntin’s hectic schedule as a minister before, Petrus said he never shunned his responsibilities as a family man to his wife and seven children.
“I will remember him as a good father. He was always there for the children and he always put the family first.”
Mojuntin’s body is now at the Agut Jubilee Lighthouse funeral home in Penampang near here, Petrus said, adding that the funeral service is tentatively set for this Saturday.
Mojuntin is the younger brother of the Kadazan community’s favourite son and famous Sabah politician Peter Mojuntin.
Peter was one of several Berjaya government ministers, including then chief minister Fuad Stephens, who perished in a tragic air crash on June 6, 1976, an incident known as the Double Six tragedy.
Following Peter’s untimely death, Mojuntin then made his foray into politics, becoming the state culture, youth and sports minister from 1982 to 1985.
It was during this period that sports development in the state soared, with Sabah achieving success in the national and international scene.
Sabah local government and housing minister Masidi Manjun, who was a permanent secretary in the ministry then, recalled seeing for himself how Mojuntin was so immersed in sports.
“At his urging, I joined him in participating at the Kuala Lumpur marathon,” he told FMT.
“He was very passionate about sports and sports development in Sabah and he himself was an active participant.
“It was during his time that the ministry managed to secure the services of sports management experts from the United States to assist in Sabah’s sports development.”
Thanks to Mojuntin, the standard of bodybuilding was also raised to another level. The era coincided with Sabahan Justin Sompong emerging as the Asian bodybuilding champion in 1985 while the state also hosted the prestigious Mr Olympia tourney.
Apart from his accolades in government, Mojuntin was also involved in controversy previously when he was charged with the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old in 2006. The High Court later ruled that the shooting was in self-defense.
However, in connection to the same case, he was later jailed for six months for threatening a businessman.
After leaving politics following the fall of the Berjaya government in 1985, Mojuntin tried to make a comeback in the 2004 general election. However, he lost in both the state and parliamentary seats of Moyog and Penampang, respectively.