Mrs. Malie Puaala Williams Has Passed Away
("O Mrs. Malie Puaala Williams Ua Hala", Nupepa Kuokoa, July 15, 1921)
Dear editor of the Kuokoa, greetings:—To inform those in every corner of this land who are friends and acquaintances of Mrs. Puaala Williams, my dear wife and companion, my sympathizer in all things related to this life, my companion in the face of hardship, together enduring the heavy burden of every variety, please have the kindness to publish in available space of the columns of the delicate form of the treasure of the nation that she has passed on to the path of Kane.1 The bond has been forever severed, leaving only remains for me and her family to cry and mourn over without sleep, night and day, full of love and never-ending grief.
Whereas man is but grass that wilts,2 and life is a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away,3 and whereas the spirit of a person cannot be bartered, and the affairs of the body and the spirit are entirely separate, may the creator of body and spirit be forever glorified, since he is the planter and thus may uproot that which he has planted.
She suffered from illness for many years. All manner of remedies were sought out, but the power of the illness was greater than the knowledge and skill of man. The expertise of doctors and the power of medicine could not preserve her life, and so she passed away. Love passes accompanied by intense regret!
She appeared in this world of light from the loins of her mother, Malia Kekapa, and her father, Napeha, at Nuu, Kaupo 55 years ago. Many came from the same womb,4 but most of the siblings, 12 in all, have passed to the other world, leaving only two from this key and box.5 With her passing, only one of their generation remains in this world, along with many children and grandchildren.
She was educated in Hawaiian-language schools and then at the English-language government school in Honolulu when she moved to that city. She was a longtime member of the Catholic Church until her passing.
In February 1905, we were joined in the holy covenant of marriage. I was her second husband. We lived together for 15 years but no children came from our loins. She has one daughter from her first husband still alive—Mrs. Ana Devauchelle of Pukoo, Molokai—and 10 grandchildren.
She was a member of the United Heart Association of the Catholic Church and a member and adviser of the women’s branch of the Hawaiian Relief and Savings Society until departing to the island of Hina,6 where her mortal remains lie. She was a founding member of the Native Hawaiian Society and remained in good standing until laying down to the eternal slumber of summer and winter.7 Because of this, the women’s branch of the Hawaiian Relief and Savings Society made finery for her and paid her funeral procession expenses as a gift.
The deceased, Malie Puaala Williams, was a mother whose many fine qualities were recognized by everyone who knew her. She was kind and welcoming, with an open heart to all. She will not be seen or heard again, since dust has been returned to the earth and the spirit to the one who gave it.8 Nevertheless, the love, appreciation and unforgettable memories of her will never vanish as the seasons go by.
We would like to express our everlasting gratitude to the friends and companions who joined us in our hours of sorrow and mourning for our beloved one who has departed this life. Thanks to the women’s branch of the Hawaiian Relief and Savings Society for their assistance with our dear one. Thank you to the Native Hawaiian Society for its support and for treating me as if I were a member in good standing of the society. We also give thanks to all the friends who shed tears of love for the departed. We ask the Almighty One bestow us with His serene fortitude.
Sorrowfully,
HENRY WILLIAMS WILSON,
MRS. ANA DEVAUCHELLE,
and family.
Composed at Pukoo, Molokai, July 2, 1921.
- A variation on a common poetic saying for death. See entry No. 421 in the book “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings“.
- 1 Peter 1:24.
- James 4:14.
- In Hawaiian, “pahu” (box).
- That is, the male and female loins.
- A common nickname name for Molokai. See entry No. 2194 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- A common poetic saying for death. See entry No. 2168 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7.