He had been suffering from pneumonia and other complications in Pohnpei and was referred to Hawaii on Jan. 15.
He was married to Pwerech Smail of Nama, Mortlocks, Chuuk and they had 11 children.
A state funeral is being planned, the details of which will be announced once they are set.
One of the founding fathers of the Federated States of Micronesia, Amaraich was born on August 24, 1932, on Ta, an island in the Mortlock islands of Chuuk State.
He graduated from the Pacific Islands Central School and then attended one summer session at the College of Guam.
He began his professional career as an elementary school teacher in Chuuk from 1951 to 1952 before starting his long career in public service.
He first served in the Truk District Court as the assistant clerk of courts (1955-56), and then as the chief public defender for 10 years. He later became assistant district administrator for public affairs under the Trust Territory government.
Amaraich served in the Truk District Congress, the Council of Micronesia for the Trust Territory in 1959, and the Congress of Micronesia Senate from 1965 to 1974.
In the Micronesian Congress, he was the chairman on the Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations and a member of the Ways and Means Committee.
Starting in 1962, he served as the Micronesian advisor to the U.S. delegation to the Trusteeship Council and continued in this capacity a total of three times.
Considered as one of his greatest accomplishments, he served as chairman of the Commission on the Future Political Status and Transition from 1976 to 1987, which led to his appointment as the chief negotiator on the Compact of Free Association with the United States government.
Later, he was a special consultant to the Micronesian Delegation to the United Nations Law of the Sea Conference and also served as a legal staff to the 1975 Micronesian Constitutional Convention where he personally drafted many of the provisions of the FSM Constitution.
In 1979, at the establishment of the FSM constitutional government, Amaraich was appointed the first secretary of the FSM Department of External Affairs under President Tosiwo Nakayama.
He served for both terms under Nakayama from 1979 to 1987, and then under President John Haglelgam until 1990.
During those years he played an instrumental role in developing diplomatic relationships with other nations in the Pacific and the world, established missions in Tokyo, Fiji, Washington D.C., Guam and Honolulu, and almost single-handedly organized the Department of External Affairs.
In 1990, President Haglelgam nominated Amaraich as an associate justice for the FSM Supreme Court based on his “significant legal training and court experience,” combined with his lead role in negotiation of the Compact, “a very complex legal document,” to satisfy the statutory requirement regarding qualification of a Supreme Court Judge.
He served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the FSM from June 1992 to 1994.
In 1993, President Bailey Olter nominated Amaraich as chief justice of the FSM Supreme Court.
He was, at the time, serving as the acting chief justice following the resignation of Chief Justice Edward C. King.
