I whānau mai ai a Tīmoti Karetu i te tau 1937, he uri ia nō Ngāi Tūhoe rāua ko Ngāti Kahungunu. He mātanga ia o te reo Māori, he tohunga tito waiata, he tohunga hoki ia ki ngā waiata me ngā haka a tāua, a te Māori. Ka mutu, e mōhiotia whānuitia ana ia ki ngā tōpito o te ao mō tāna whakapeto ngoi ki te whakarauora i te reo Māori.
I whakaturia ia i te tau 1970 hei Ahorangi tuatahi oTe Tari Māori o Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, ā, i te tau 1987 ko Tīmoti hoki te tumuaki tuatahi o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, nā wai rā, kia tae rawa mai te tau 1999 ka mahue atu ia i te turanga rā. Nō te tau 2003 a Tīmoti i noho ai hei Ahorangi oTe Kohanga Reo.
I poipoi a Tīmoti ki ngā āhuatanga a Tāne-rore me te Rēhia, ka mutu, kua tohunga ia ināianei ki aua tikanga, he kaitito, he kaiwhakahaere, he kaiwhakawā, he taniwha, he tipua. E whia kē mai nei tau ia e noho ana hei tumuaki mō te komiti whakahaere o ngā whakataetae kapa haka. Nō konā anō te ao Māori whānui e patipati ana ki te taniwha nei mō āna kupu tohutohu, mō ōna titonga katoa.
He maha ngā tohu honore kua whakawhiwhia e Tīmoti, arā, e rua ōna tohu kairangi kua whakahōnoretia ki runga ki a ia; kotahi nō Te Whare Wānanga o Wikitōria, kotahi nō Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato. I te tau 2012 i whakahōnoretia e te marea a Tīmoti, ki Waimarama i tana whiwhinga ki Te Tohu Aroha mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. Ko te tohu rangatira tēnei a Te Waka Toi. I runga anō i ēnei tūnga ōna, ko ia hoki tētahi o ngā ahorangi o Te Panekiretanga o te Reo Māori, he wānanga reo i whakatū ai hei wānanga i ngā karamatamatatanga me ngā rētōtanga o te reo Māori.
Ko Tīmoti tonu te tipua o te reo Māori, he maunga tē neke kia tutuki rā anō ngā moemoeā o te reo Māori. He mātanga, he tohunga, he rangatira.
