My Younger Brother Peter William Kamai Has Passed Away
("Kuu Pokii Peter William Kamai Ua Hala", Nupepa Kuokoa, September 20, 1918)
Dear Mr. Solomon Hanohano,1 greetings:—Please publish in available space of our revered one2 my tearful message above to notify the family and friends of my departed younger brother. What sorrow for my brother!3
My brother passed away at 2 in the morning on Monday, July 29, at Kula hospital.4
We received the sad news of William Kamai’s death surprisingly fast, in a phone call from the Kula doctor. How my heart is shattered over my departed brother.
His illness5 did not afflict him for a long time before he passed away. Alas for you, my brother who patiently endured every hardship and discomfort, my brother who never burdened me, his sister. I will no longer hear his voice on the phone saying, sister, send food for me.
He spent 17 years, 2 months and a few days more breathing the cold air of this world. My brother was born in Kaupo on Sept. 14, 1901. There were 11 of us. Death took two, leaving nine of us living. My brother has gone on the path of no return.6
My brother has wandered off. Where have you gone? My cheerful, good-natured, open-hearted brother, where are you? What ceaseless grief I feel for you!
He attended Kipahulu School with his older brother.7 When they graduated, they went to Kahului with me, their sister, and enrolled in St. Anthony School in Wailuku. The two of them graduated from there. He worked at Kahului Store until his illness became so severe that he could no longer continue. He was a clerk there. He held prayer and the priests in high regard.
O Wailuku of the famed four waters,8 you will no longer wet the cheeks of my deceased brother! O Kahului of the undulating sea, my brother will no longer pass by the capes on your shore. What affection for this foreign place where my departed brother and I stayed. O Hana of the rain of the low sky,9 my brother will no longer pass through. O Kipahulu of the storied love-snatching wind,10 you will no longer moisten the cheeks of my deceased brother. Beloved are these places my brother traveled while we toiled. These places will always be cherished by your parents, who so loved their child.
What endless reflections on my departed brother! Our mother was his foremost thought. O Kaupo, where the rain makes one hide behind rock walls, homeland of my brother, you will not see my brother Willie again. He has left on the path of no return.
His gentle eyes have vanished. The burden has been released. Gone are the moans over the pains of this world. The words of the Good Book have come to pass, that life is a vapor that appears and then vanishes away.11 Praise the Lord in heaven. He gave, and He hath taken away.12 He has taken the spirit and left the mortal remains for us to remember forever.
We would like to offer our unending gratitude to the mourners and thank them for their bouquets that adorned my brother who has departed and disappeared. To you, youths of the printing press, we send our regards. We the undersigned being the siblings with grieving hearts.
STEPHEN LAKE,13
MRS. ANNA S. LAKE.
A. A. KAMAI.
Below is the obituary in the original Hawaiian:
KUU POKII PETER WILLIAM KAMAI UA HALA.
Ia oe e Mr. Solomon Hanohano, Aloha oe:—E oluolu oe e hookomo iho ma kahi kaawale o ka kakou hiwahiwa no ka’u wahi puolo waimaka e kau ae la maluna, i ike mai ai ka ohana ame na hoaloha o kuu pokii hele loa. Auwe kuu pokii hele loa e!
Ua haalele mai kuu pokii i ka hora elua o ka wanaao Poakahi la 29 o Iulai, ma ka haukapila o Kula.
Me ka puiwa hikiwawe i loaa mai ai ia makou ka lono kaumaha ma ke kelepona, mai ke kauka mai o Kula, o Wm. Kamai ua make. Auwe ka mokumokuahua o kuu naau e, no kuu pokii hele loa.
Aole no i loihi loa ka hoomailo ana a ka ma’i maluna ona a hala wale aku la no oia. Auwe kuu pokii hoomanawanui e, i na inea ame na ehaeha apau; kuu pokii hooluhi ole mai ia’u i kona kaikuahine. Ua pau ko’u lohe ana i kona leo i ka pane mai ma ke kelepona, e kuahine e, hoouna mai oe i meaai na’u.
Ua piha iaia he umi-kumamahiku makahiki elua mahina ame na la keu o kona hanu ana i na ea hu’ihu’i ma keia ao. Ua hanauia kuu pokii ma Kaupo, i ka makahiki 1901, Sept. 14. He umi-kumamakahi ko makou nui, a lawe aku la ka make elua, a koe iho la makou eiwa e ola nei. Kuu pokii hele loa e i ke ala hoi ole mai. O ka’u ia e hoaa hele nei, aia iho nei la oe ihea e kuu pokii, e kuu pokii piha oluolu, waipahe, puuwai hamama, eia iho nei la oe ihea? Auwe kuu minamina pau ole ia oe e!
Ma ke kula apana no oia ame kona kaikuaana ma Kipahulu kahi i hele ai, a puka mailaila mai hoi mai me a’u me ko laua kaikuahine ma Kahului a komo i ke kula St. Anthony o Wailuku, a puka pono mai laua mailaila mai. Noho hana oia maloko o Kahului Store ahiki i ka ikaika loa ana o kona ma’i a pau kona hele ana i ka hana. He kupakako kana hana malaila. He mea nui loa iaia ka pule ame na makua uhane.
E Wailuku e, ia wai kaulana, na wai eha, ua pau kou hoopulu hou ana ma na papalina o kuu pokii hele loa e! E Kahului e, i ke kai holuholu, ua pau ka maalo hou ana o kuu pokii ma kou mau lae kahakai, aloha keia wahi malihini a maua e pili ai me kuu pokii hele loa. E Hana e, i ka ua lani haahaa ua pau ka maalo hou ana o kuu pokii malaila. E Kipahulu e, ia makani kaulana, ka makani Kailialoha, aole e hoopulu hou ana i na papalina o kuu pokii hele loa. Aloha ia wahi a kuu pokii e hele ai, me na luhi a makou, ia wahi e pili aloha mau ai me o’u mau makua, aloha keiki.
Auwe kuu hoomanao pau ole no kuu pokii hele loa e! He mea nui loa ko makou mama iaia. E Kaupo e, i ka ua peepapohaku, ka aina hanau o kuu pokii, aole oe e ike hou ana ia Willie, kuu pokii, ua hele i ke ala hoi ole mai.
Ua nalo kona mau maka palupalu; ua kuu ka luhi, ua pau ke u ana i na ehaeha o keia ao. Ua ko iho la ka olelo a ka Buke Nui, he mahu ke ola i pu-a ae a nalo aku. E hoonaniia ka Haku ma ka lani, Nana no i haawi mai, a Nana no i lawe aku la. Ua lawe aku oia i ka uhane a o ke kino lepo kana i waiho iho na makou e hoomanao pau ole ai.
Ke haawi aku nei makou i na hoomaikai palena ole i ka poe kumakena ame ka lakou mau boke pua i hoowehiwehi iho i kuu pokii hele loa, a nalo aku loa. Me oukou e na keiki o ka papapa’i ko makou aloha. O makou iho no kona poe kaikuaana iloko o ke kaumaha luuluu o ka naau.
STEPHEN LAKE,
MRS. ANNA S. LAKE.
A. A. KAMAI.
Footnotes
- Editor of the Nupepa Kuokoa.
- In Hawaiian, ka kakou hiwahiwa, a common nickname for the Nupepa Kuokoa.
- The author of this obituary is Kamai’s sister Anna Lake, who 2 years later also wrote the obituary for her father, John Baptize Kamoau Kamai.
- This would have been the precursor to the current Kula Hospital, which was built in 1937.
- The cause of death is identified as tuberculosis pulmonalis. Kula Hospital (originally called Kula Sanitorium) was established specifically for tuberculosis patients.
- A common poetic saying for death. See entry No. 420 in the book “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings“.
- Likely Abraham Kamai, identified at the bottom of this obituary.
- A poetic name for the region of central Maui that includes Waikapu, Wailuku, Waiehu and Waihee. See entry No. 2300 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- A poetic name for Hana. See entry No. 1578 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- A poetic name for Kipahulu. See entry No. 1463 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- James 4:14.
- Job 1:21.
- Brother-in-law of the deceased.