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April 9, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Susanna Wesley Home

Born on January 20, 1669 in England, the 25th of 25-children, Susanna Wesley never preached a sermon, built a church or published a book, but she is identified as the “Mother of Methodism.” She managed her household, raised and educated more than a dozen children.  (Adams)

Following the example set at home by their mother, behaving methodically and purposefully, her sons, John Wesley and Charles Wesley, helped people reshape their lives for the better; a movement started from this that would reform not only individuals, but the church and the society of England – they became known as the “Method-ists.”  (Pellowe)

Fast forward a couple centuries to the Islands.

“Members of the Methodist Episcopal church in (San Francisco) interested in Oriental mission work have decided to establish a Japanese Christian home in Honolulu.”  (That was in 1902; Methodist mission work started in the Islands in 1887.)

“The Japanese women working in the island rice fields are particularly anxious to have the home established and are willing to contribute to the cause. … the name of the new institution (was suggested to) be the Susanna Wesley Home and the suggestion met the approval or all present.”  (Hawaiian Star, November 20, 1902)

“(T)he Home was open in May, 1903. About 85 women have been cared for and instructed in the Christian life. …. the Home receives both orphans and half-orphans (typically Japanese and Korean.)  There is a comfortable home for 40 children.  San Francisco and Honolulu people have aided the home ….”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 29, 1905)  (It also took in disillusioned picture brides.)

“The work of the Susanna Wesley Home has been conducted for some time in the old Dickey Homestead on Nuʻuanu Street under the direction of Miss Jayne assisted by Miss Morrison.  The object of the home is to care for unprotected women and children, and much work of this kind has been done among the Japanese and Koreans.”  (Hawaiian Star, January 30, 1906)

“To teach them the right, protect them in their helplessness, and try by precept and example to lead them to the Christ, has been our aim. Seeds have been sown. Our faith is not strong enough to believe that all have taken deep root, yet we believe some will spring up and bear fruit.”

“The most encouraging part of our work, as has often been repeated, is among the children. Here we can see results and take courage. We now have six children less than three years of age. … Some years ago it was decided to admit only children old enough to attend school, but we have always had children under school age.”  (Report of Susanna Wesley House)

“It has been my aim since the beginning of my work here to make a real home, and be a real mother to these helpless little children, many of whom know no other mother’s love and care.”

“We do not want Susannah Wesley Home to be merely a boarding school, or institution, but a home in the truest, and best sense of the word, using our best efforts to train the children for lives of usefulness, and tenderly leading them to Him who said ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me.’” (Report of Susanna Wesley House)

They later moved into and converted the ‘Melrose Hotel’ on King Street “near the Waikiki turn” into an expanded Susanna Wesley Home.

“There are three main buildings, two of which face on King Street.  These are connected by a spacious lanai.  The grounds are greatly improved and there are 50-rooms.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, January 30, 1906) (It was about where the parking lot of the Department of Agriculture is located.)

Though they were residents at the Home, the girls received their education from schools within the area. At the end of the school day, they would return to the Home where they were required to complete homework assignments.

In addition to their education, the house mothers at the Home taught the girls to sew their own clothing, cook meals, keep house and learn social etiquette. Older girls worked during the summer school vacation. Religious worship was encouraged, and the girls were free to attend the church of their own choosing.  (legacy-com)

One notable girl who temporarily resided at the Home was 14-year-old Kame Imanaga, orphaned at an early age.  Initially raised on Maui by Japanese neighbors, then a Hawaiian couple, it was arranged for her to move to Honolulu and enter the Home.

Shortly after arriving, Daniel Kleinfelter, a Caucasian minister, visited the home on an official inspection. Walking through the property, Kleinfelter handed a piece of candy to each child he met.

Kame declined the gift, explaining the only thing she wanted was a family of her own.  Kleinfelter was so impressed by the outspoken teenager that he promptly invited Kame to live with him, his wife and their two daughters in their Honolulu home.

Kame converted to Christianity and began to attend River Street Methodist Church.  Six years after her adoption, a young man – Hyotaro – caught her eye at a church social. A year later, they were married.

On September 7, 1924, almost 1-year after their wedding, Kame and Hyotaro became the proud parents of a baby boy.  His name combined Japanese and American culture, beliefs and values.

Kame gave him his first name, Daniel, in honor of her adoptive father, Daniel Kleinfelter – and recognition of the West.  Hyotaro gave the boy the middle name, Ken (a Japanese word for ‘to build,’) following customs of the East.

Hyotaro was the eldest son of the eldest sons for four generations – he hoped his firstborn would continue to build the family by someday fathering a son of his own.  (Slavicek)

That young child of Kame and Hyotaro eventually continued the tradition and had a son, Ken.

Oh, the child of Kame and Hyotaro … he was better known to us in the Islands and those in the US Senate as Daniel K Inouye.

The Susanna Wesley Home moved to Kaili Street in Kalihi in 1919 (the King Street land was subdivided into ‘cottage lots.’)  Others benefitted at the home.

“We were raised in Susanna Wesley Home on Kalihi Street until we finished high school after my parents divorced when I was eight…. It was a good plan because otherwise I would be still ignorant of a lot of things…. We went to public school, and we were raised in Kalihi Union Church, so we had a very good life.”

“I liked it in the Susanna Wesley Home, they educated me…. We had a beach house in Mokulēʻia. And so every summer we went to Mokuleʻia and spent the time there. And even sometimes when we were older, if we wanted to go Mokuleʻia spend the time, Susanna Wesley Home had it.” (Lum)

When the need for orphanages declined, the residence was closed and the center in the 1950s began its transformation to its present structure: a multipurpose community center that today offers services such as counseling to high-risk youths, mental health services to children, clothes for the poor and hot meals for the elderly.  (Tighe) (It’s now known as Susannah Wesley Community Center.)

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Filed Under: Buildings, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People Tagged With: Daniel Inouye, Methodists, Methodist Church, Susanna Wesley Home, Kalihi, Hawaii

April 7, 2025 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Campos Dairy

During the mid-1800s, Queen Kalama, wife of Kamehameha III, and Judge CC Harris attempted to establish a sugar plantation on the majority of lands in Kāneʻohe and Kailua. When this venture failed in 1871, Judge Harris obtained title to the lands, which he transferred to his daughter Nannie R Rice.

JP Mendonca leased the lands from her and, on November 1, 1894, incorporated Kāneʻohe Ranch, for the purpose of raising cattle. A foundation herd of Aberdeen-Angus cattle formed the basis for a commercial herd of between two and three thousand head.

The “wet-lands” on the property were leased to Chinese for rice cultivation. In 1907, James B Castle acquired the capital stock of Kāneʻohe Ranch Company Limited, and in 1917 his son Harold KL Castle eventually purchased the lands from Mrs Rice.

The cattle industry remained an integral part of the ranch’s operations until World War II, with the herds in the early days being driven by cowboys over the Pali to be butchered in Honolulu. Military operations on the ranch lands became so extensive during World War II that the cattle industry was discontinued.

The 12,000-acre ranch, when it came under the direction of Mr Castle, also engaged in the cultivation of pineapple. However, because of the extensive rainfall on this side of the island, pineapples proved uneconomical and in the 1920s were discontinued. Likewise, because of competition from California, rice farming declined in the 1930s.  (NPS)

Parts of the area became used by dairy farms … that leads us to the Campos clan.

One of the biggest dairies on the Island was Campos Dairy in Kailua (it was also called LW Campos Ranch and Eagle Rock Dairy – because there was a large lava outcrop in the middle of a flat field shaped like an eagle.)  (Miranda) 

Rafael Marfil Campos was born in Velez, Malaga, Spain on June 30, 1860 to Antonio Gonzales Campos and Ana Robles Marfil. In 1883 he married Irene Rudea Lopes of Macharaviaya, Malaga (she died in 1889); his second wife was Carolina Escano Lopes, of Benagalbon, Malaga (she died in 1894).

Campos had emigrated from Spain to Cuba in 1893; there he lost his worldly possessions in the revolution against Spain. In 1897, Campos married Maria Gallardo Claros de Macharaviaya. He then moved to Puerto Rico in 1900.

After returning to Spain and living there for a while, he came to Hawaiʻi in 1907.

1912 newspaper reports show Campos was farming in Kapahulu (near where the Honolulu Zoo is situated.)  Campos “is an expert farmer who arrived here from Spain in the immigrant steamer Heliopolis …”

The newspaper was reporting on losses he suffered on his vegetable and fruit farm due to fruit flies attacking his Chile pepper.  He noted, “If something is not done in regard to the fruit fly, our islands will be ruined as far as vegetables and fruits are concerned.”  (Hawaiian Star, June 6, 1912)  That same year, recorded transactions note he also sold cows.

During the 1920s and 1930s several dairymen moved from Kapahulu to the windward side because large tracts of land had been abandoned by Libby, McNeill & Libby, following the closing of their pineapple cannery in Kahaluʻu.

Campos Dairy farm appeared in 1925 along the mauka side of Kailua Road (reportedly, one of the first to make the move to the Windward side.) It was where Target and the Ka Malanai Condominiums are today.

Leasing land from Kāneʻohe Ranch, Campos also bought land around Kaʻelepulu Stream.  A 1994 MidWeek cover story said the Campos land included 800 to 1,000-acres, where a herd of 1,000 to 1,200-cattle roamed.  (Star-Bulletin)

The senior Campos “retired from the diary business in 1937, turning his interests over to his sone, Lawrence. He kept his hand in, however, by maintaining a flock of 600 Rhode Island Red chickens as a hobby.” (Adv, Mar 1, 1946) (Another son, George, also was involved with management of the dairy.)

Campos sold milk to the Dairymen’s Association (a cooperative formed in June 1897 when seven O’ahu dairy farms joined forces (Honolulu Dairy, Kaaipu Dairy, Kapahulu Dairy, M. A. Silva Dairy, M. A. Baptista Dairy, Waialae Dairy and Woodlawn Dairy.)) (In 1959, the Dairymen’s Association, Ltd name changed to Meadow Gold Dairies Hawai‘i.)

Due to disagreement in a new policy, Campos was ready to go out on his own.  “The decision to go into his own milk and dairy products business was made, according to Mr Campos, when Dairymen’s refused him the renewal of the flat-rate contract … he was asked to join the pool to which most of the milk producers now belong”.  (Honolulu Record, September 7, 1950)

Lawrence Campos of the Eagle Rock Dairy planned to go into distributing milk in competition with the Dairymen’s Association.  This brought speculation of a “milk price war.”

“Campos is working closely with owners of the Hygienic Dairy in his plans to organize a million dollar company … Hygienic has also had disagreement on a contract renewal with Dairymen’s.” (Honolulu Record, September 14, 1950)

By 1952, Campos is noted as “processing and selling milk;” that year, Foremost bought Campos Dairy Products, Ltd, as well as several other dairies and made its entrance into the Honolulu milk market.  Operations were later transferred to Waimanalo.  (FTC)

In the late-1960s, negotiation were underway by respective parties to acquire the Campos lease on the Castle/Kāneʻohe Ranch lands – the plan was to develop the pasture into apartments, condominium and commercial uses (one party offered $1,370,000 to purchase the Campos Ranch leases with Castle.)

Hawaii’s current dairy industry is tiny compared to what it once was. The state was self-sufficient in milk until 1982. Dairy operations could once be found across Oahu — from Hawaii Kai to Kapahulu and Waianae.

But in 2022, Hawaii had 633 dairy cows spread across 22 farms, according to the USDA. And more than half belong to Cloverleaf Dairy. In the 1960s, the state had about 50 dairies; now, there is one – the 350-cow Cloverleaf Dairy. (Heaton; Civil Beat)

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Economy, Prominent People Tagged With: Kailua, Harold Castle, Kaelepulu, Koolaupoko, Campos Dairy, Kaneohe Ranch, Hawaii, Oahu

April 4, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mokihana Club

In 1903, the first Lihue Public Hall was built and a group of enthusiastic and resourceful young women undertook to assume the debt of $1,400.  “The ladies of Lihue and Hanamaulu met at the Social Hall … to prepare for the Fair, proposed for the benefit of the hall … They were busy in sewing and making articles to be sold at the fair.” (Evening Bulletin, Feb 15, 1905)

“Saturday, June 17th, the Day of the Fair, will be a red letter day long to be remembered in the annals of Lihue. … On that day all roads led to the Fair, and every road was astir with travelling feet.”

“The Hall debt of $1400 has been paid off and there is money left in the treasury. Great credit is due the ladies of Lihue and elsewhere for their untiring, enthusiastic work in the preparation and conduct of the Fair.”  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 26, 1905)

The women were convinced of the need on Kauai for a group who would be a force for social and cultural stimulation that would undertake civic development and improvements. (Mokihana Club)

On November 5, 1905, twenty-six young women – under the leadership of Dora Isenberg – met at Nawiliwili and formed the Mokihana Club.

At the first regular meeting, Elsie Wilcox was elected president; Mrs. Sweetser, Vice President; Mrs. Carter, secretary; and Kate Christian, treasurer. Meetings were to be held on the first Wednesday of each month at 3 pm and dues were set at $1 per year.

The first civic project undertaken was to pioneer for a public library, and the Mokihana Club committee shared in establishing the Kauai Library Association.

As membership grew, the Club developed a new interest: a garden club and a beautification program.  The  group was responsible for much of the roadside and park planting that exists today. The Garden Club was one of the early committees whose function was to encourage the development of gardens.

The Club’s Beautification Committee, also called Garden Club Committee, Outdoor Improvement Committee and/or Village Improvement Committee, worked closely with the Outdoor Circle of O‘ahu, which consequently led to the formation of the Kauai Outdoor Circle in 1975. (Kauai Historical Society)

In 1916, the membership of the Club brought attention to the pressing need for health services, and appointed Mabel Wilcox, a registered nurse, as chairman of the Health Committee. Miss Mabel hired the first public health nurse, making possible the services of the Territorial Board of Health.

The Public Health Committee was established in October 1916 and it “was immediately successful in fulfilling that need.” The Committee raised funds for a nurse’s salary and provided her with lodging and a car.

A list of rules included a salary of $100 per month, and an auto plus $25 per month for auto expenses. Responsibilities included pre-natal care, well-baby clinics, nutrition guidance, and dental checks.

For the past two decades, Mokihana Club has presented scholarships to students in the Kauai Community College (KCC) Nursing Program.

The first chair of the Nursing Scholarship Committee, Marie Ryan Pietro, which appears relevant 20 years after the club’s first scholarship presentation said,

“We look forward to an ever-increasing program directly connected to one of the Mokihana Club founders, Miss Mabel Wilcox who graduated from the R.N. program at John Hopkins University, and was responsible for many of the local health decisions made those many years ago.” (The Garden Island)

The nursing students continue to remember and honor Miss Mabel Wilcox by hosting their traditional Pinning Ceremony following graduation on the grounds of the Grove Farm Museum, which was Wilcox’s residence. (The Garden Island) 

The Community Entertainment Committee was responsible for the planning of all entertainment given under the auspices of the Club.

Until about the 1940s, this consisted primarily of Christmas activities – the Community Christmas tableaux held for the enjoyment of the public at the Lihue Armory, the delivery of Christmas trees to schools, and candy to school children for example.

The Community Education Committee was formed to take an active interest in the betterment of educational conditions existing in the community. A 1925 annual committee report mentions developing a League of Women Voters on Kauai, but notes that the Club would “let our successors undertake that project.”

This committee later became the Social Service Committee. A 1966 Community Service report notes that the “Club has been inactive.” It is possible that members felt that other organizations were filling the educational needs of the community.

In 1955, The Mokihana Club sponsored the first performance of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra on Kauai. In the ensuing years, the Symphony introduced island students to music through concerts and classroom visits by orchestra members.

The Mokihana Club gives music scholarships to graduating seniors of voice or instruments to continue their music studies after high school.

The scholarship funding for nursing and music awards is generated by concerts featuring Hawaiian artists (recently, Kalani Pe‘a (2023) and Jeff Peterson and Keola Beamer (2024)), golf tournaments, wine tastings, and other programs and events.

Membership in The Mokihana Club is open to all interested women who is a resident of Kauai or regular visitor, and who is willing to cooperate in the work of the Club; to become a member you must be sponsored by two other members and voted on by the Board of Directors.

Annual dues are $25 which covers membership from October through June, the yearbook with the Club Constitution and Bylaws, and the Membership Directory. If you are interested in joining please contact at info@TheMokihanaClub.org.  (Information here is from Mokihana Club and Kauai Historical Society.)

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: General, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Kauai, Mokihana Club

April 2, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Alāla

Alāla (lit., awakening) is a point at the south end of Kailua Beach that separates Kailua Beach and Kaʻōhao (an ʻili in the Kailua ahupuaʻa – the area is now more commonly called Lanikai) on Oʻahu.

The point takes its name from the fishing shrine, a natural stone formation, on the ridge above. Wailea, a companion fishing shrine (and point,) is located at the south end of Lanikai.  (Ulukau)

In 1920, a bridge was constructed across Kaʻelepulu Stream, giving better access to the area.

Shortly after, Harold Kainalu Long Castle sold land to developer Charles Russell Frazier (the head of Town and Country Homes, Ltd., which was the real estate division of the Trent Trust Co) to create what Frazier and Trent called Lanikai (a name they made up.)

They laid out the subdivision and the first permanent homes in the area were constructed in 1924. Development began at the northern end of the neighborhood and moved further south along the beach.

The area was initially considered a remote country location for weekend getaways or vacations at the beach for swimming, fishing, boating and hiking.

The construction of the Lanikai streets was completed by October 1925. Included in the deeds for the Lanikai subdivision were restrictions that remained in effect until 1950, against building within 18-feet of the property boundary line along the street or using the property for anything other than residences.

At about the same time, Frazier leased a couple-hundred acres of neighboring land from Bishop Estate.  He persuaded sixty-five men, many of whom were purchasing his lots and cottages at Lanikai, to commit to a country club project (Kailua Country Club; the name quickly changed to Mid-Pacific Country Club.)

In 1926, the development doubled in size and Frazier added the now-iconic monument at the entrance to the development.

It was designed by the famed local architect Hart Wood.  (Wood, known for residential and commercial structures (including Alexander & Baldwin Building and Honolulu Hale,) designed the also-iconic “Hawaiian” double-hipped roof pattern and “lanai” or broad roofed-in patio with open sides.)

The Lanikai Monument’s use of rough concrete and stone is in keeping with Wood’s experiments with natural stone indigenous to the structure’s site, an example of which is his Makiki Christian Science Church.

The Lanikai Monument is a simple pillar located on a narrow strip of land that is a high point next to the road; it’s there to mark the boundary and entry point of the subdivision and golf course. It is still in its original location and its original design remains almost intact.

The tapered concrete base structure is 40-feet in circumference and 56 inches high. The pillar is made of concrete and stone.

The 16 foot tall pillar has a gentle taper from its 5-foot-diameter lower portion to a slightly narrower and rounded concrete top that is capped with a conical concrete cap. Two curved metal plates near the top bear the name, “Lanikai.”  (NPS)

For decades, beach houses in Lanikai were mainly used as a retreat from Honolulu; however, in the 1950s, the area began to develop into a more suburban residential area.  (The Pali Highway and its tunnels opened in 1959; that helped spark the change.)

Lanikai Beach had a white sandy beach approximately one mile long (about half of this has disappeared over the years due to erosion and seawalls along the shore.)

During cleaning of the monument in 2001, it lost its pointed metal spear at the top, as well as the heavy chain that surrounded the monument and draped from four metal rings.

© 2025 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Filed Under: General, Prominent People Tagged With: Pali, Harold Castle, Wailea, Hart Wood, Kaelepulu, Alala, Mid-Pacific Country Club, Hawaii, Oahu, Kailua, Lanikai

March 30, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sweet Lady of Waiāhole

Early in the morning, she would gather all her island fruits,
And pack them as she starts another day.
Carefully she makes her way beside the mountain stream,
As she sings an island chant of long ago.

Sweet lady of Waiāhole,
She’s sitting by the highway
Selling her papaya
And green and ripe banana
(“Sweet Lady of Waiāhole”)
(Written by Gordon Broad, performed by Walter Aipolani (Bruddah Waltah.))

“Legendary references to Waiahole suggest that agriculture was being practiced in the valley in the AD 1600s (calculated genealogically at a rate of 25 years/generation). For example, the warrior Kuapunohu is said to have dug up and burned the taro from a patch of four acres.”

“Fornander, in a variation of the same story, notes that because Kapunohu (his spelling) used the taro for firewood, the saying, ‘the hard taro of Waiahole,’ is known from Hawaii to Niihau.”  (Archaeological Resources in Waiāhole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“[K]uleana awards to commoners were spread out along the banks of the valley streams, from the coast to 2.3 miles inland.  Some parcels were situated on the Kaneloa terrace and along the base of the southern spur near the ocean.”

In general, the parcels along the stream edges were used for irrigated taro cultivation. The kula parcels were planted in a variety of crops, including potatoes, melons, sugar cane, awa, and bananas. Houses were usually located with the kula farms and described as being ‘separate and not enclosed.’”

“Awards in the upper gulches and in the delta area of Waiahole Steam did not have kula parcels. Within twenty years, however, subsistence agriculture was supplanted by commercial rice growing. Thrum writes that the rice industry took off with the decline of whaling in the early 1860s, and with such enthusiasm in some cases that good taro was pulled up and terraces replanted in rice.”

“This industry made a tremendous impact on land use and settlement in Waiahole Valley, which was one of the primary rice growing areas in the islands throughout the industry’s life span.”

“Many taro fields were converted to rice cultivation, and Miyagi notes that rice farmers brought new areas into irrigated cultivation through the construction of more canals, particularly those which crossed the top of the Kaneloa terrace.” (Archaeological Resources in Waiāhole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“1917 saw the completion of the Waiahole Ditch tunnel by Lincoln Loy McCandless, which changed the valley forever by diverting stream water to the Ewa side of the island for sugar plantations” (Reppun)

“From the turn of the century, the rice industry began a decline which culminated with the final blow caused by the appearance of the rice borer insect in the late 1920s.  In Waiahole, rice fields were abandoned as early as 1910, although some rice was being planted as late as 1920.”

“Japanese replaced Chinese on the land during this period and truck farming replaced rice cultivation.” (Archaeological Resources in Waiāhole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“Throughout the decades of rice, pineapple, and truck farming, taro continued to be grown, though certainly at a lesser scale than pre-19th century Hawaiian land use. … The Waiahole Poi Factory operated continuously from 1904 to 1971, processing taro from the valley as well as from other areas.” (Archaeological Resources in Waiahole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“There were formerly lo‘i throughout the seaward lowlands of Waiahole. Some were in swampy lands, but most of them were irrigated by the stream from which the ahupua‘a takes its name. Groups of lo‘i adjoining Waikane were planted up into recent times.”

“Some kuleana a short way up the main stream, beyond its junction with Waianu, were still cultivated by Hawaiians living in the lower valley in 1935; and small terraces once went well up into what is now forest reserve.”

“There was also a sizable lo‘i section about half a mile up Waianu stream, with evidence of its having extended at least a mile farther inland along both the north and south branches of  Waianu.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

[In 1961, the “owner of the poi factory [said] that the Kauai taro was a better product because of its lower water content (possibly a result of the shipping time). Even after the factory closed in 1971, taro cultivation continued.” (Archaeological Resources in Waiihole Valley, Tomonari-Tuggle, 1983)

“[M]ost of the productive agricultural area in the Valley was owned by Mrs Elizabeth Marks [McCandless’ daughter] and leased to tenants, with one exception, on revocable leases. …”

“Most of the tenants want to keep the Valley primarily in agriculture and to retain the rural life style.”  (Agricultural Feasibility and Environmental Impact Waiāhole Valley Agricultural Park, HHFDC)

Here, one such farmer, Koji Matayoshi, an immigrant from Okinawa, and his father began cultivating undeveloped raw land with their bare hands & planted Okinawan sweet potato, and many other local produce. (Riveira)

Koji Matayoshi married Fujiko Shimabukuro and they wound up in Kahalu‘u, where they had eight children, five daughters and three sons. Fujiko was born in Kohala, Hawai‘i on March 18, 1914 and had moved to Okinawa when she was 3 and returned to Hawai‘i at 18. (McGrath)

They eventually moved from Kahalu‘u to the 10-acre plot of land at Waiāhole.  In addition to sweet potato, the Matayoshis grew papaya, banana, mango, watermelon and cucumber. (McGrath)

“After her husband died [February 18, 1966], Fujiko needed a way to support her children, so every day, she would gather all her fruits in a wheelbarrow and wheel them down to sell on Kamehameha Highway.” (McGrath)

“The neighbors, when they saw us, they would always say our mom was the kindest woman. She would make sweet potato tempura and give out to all the kids at the Waiāhole School basketball court.”

“Or she would give to the kids who swam in the swimming hole behind our house. Sometimes she’d make andagi with chocolate or sweet potato inside. She always had something for them to eat.” (Fujikos’ daughter, Nancy; McGrath)

Fujiko became known as the ”Sweet Lady of Waiāhole.” “Being a staple in her community and seen as a symbol of selfless acts of kindness, she was also supportive of grass roots efforts in preservation of their farm community.  ‘The Sweet Lady’ had grit and also a feisty side.” (Leilani Rivera) Fujiko passed away on March 30, 1985.

© 2025 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: Place Names, Prominent People Tagged With: Sweet Lady, Fujiko Matayoshi, Hawaii, Waiahole

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