A Lament for my Beloved Husband
("He Manewanewa No Ka’u Mea Aloha He Kane", Nupepa Kuokoa, January 25, 1923)
Mr. Solomon Hanohano,1 caretaker of the Hawaiian nation, greetings:—Please be so gracious as to set aside columns in the Kuokoa, the news bearer of the nation, for the burden I am placing on it, and report to the islands from Hawaii to Niihau the sad news that the Rev. Joseph Paele Kalohelani has departed me, his wife, along with his children,2 family and friends.
At 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 6, the angel of death called at the pastor’s house of the church at Mokulau, Kaupo and took the life breath of my beloved, leaving an empty husk for me, his children and the rest of his family to mourn while the spirit returned to the one who made it, and the body returned to the earth, where all go.3
My life is filled with sadness for him, because the three-stranded cord, the covenant of marriage, has been severed.4
J. P. Kalohelani was born in 1859 from the loins of his mother, Kahue, of Koolau, Maui, and Kalohelani, his father, of Honuaula, Maui. For 64 years5 he breathed the air of this world, then departed.
We were joined in the sacred covenant of marriage on January 25, 1880, by the Rev. Puhi at Papalahoomau Church, Kipahulu, Maui.
In 1882, we began to be blessed with children, with a healthy baby boy. The Heavenly Father ceased these blessings in 1907. The number of children bestowed was 13. However, the Creator took eight children, leaving five: namely three boys and two girls.
Paele Kalohelani’s nature was open-hearted, humble, kind, courteous and devout. He was an assiduous leader for God’s kingdom and never complained about doing what was right. Thus, with the passing of Paele Kalohelani, he has left behind all his good deeds as a monument for me, his wife, along with his children and friends from the east to the west. His abode will be the kingdom of heaven, because he had a humble heart.6
In Paele Kalohelani’s youth, he was foolhardy. But by the time we joined together, he was guided by the power of Christ to the church of Mokulau, Kaupo. There he was taught the word of God and became his servant.
In 1906, Pelekuna’s congregation in Wailau asked Paele Kalohelani to become its preacher, and he answered the call. He said to me, if it is to do God’s work then I must go. In fact, he stayed there until he was ordained. He steadfastly and stoicly served as pastor for 13 years.
Because of disagreement among the elders and brethren of the church regarding ecclesiastical matters, he asked to be discharged. This was agreed to. We went to Paia, Hamakuapoko, Maui for over a year but had some difficulties with our children. When these resolved, a request came from a committee at the church at Keanae, and my beloved husband accepted. We lived at Keanae for 4 years, serving the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
My husband and I endured the hardships at this place patiently, intent on God’s work.
Around 1919, we parted ways with the members of the Keanae church because the elders and members did not agree on church reforms. We returned to his homeland of Kaupo because the church at Mokulau asked the Rev. J. P. Kalohelani to preach and serve on a committee. He decided to accept because of the committee position. Though a great many Israelites did fall unto the hands of spoilers, so the wise man will never be lost.
My heart is filled with sorrow that my beloved has left me and our children, and that two of these children—Sampson Kalohelani, a police officer in Waialua, and Becky Kalohelani, a student in Honolulu—were not able to see their father in his final hours.
Family, friends and the faithful from Wahinepee to Kahikinui, you will not be able to confer with the Rev. J. P. Kalohelani again, because he has passed away, vanished forever.
Lahaina, in the shade of the breadfruit trees of Lele,7 you will no longer be able to converse with the Rev. J. P. Kalohelani, because he has quit this earthly sphere.
Wai Eha,8 no more will you dampen the skin of the Rev. Joseph Paele Kalohelani. West Maui, never again will you find the Rev. J. P. Kalohelani on the floorboards of your churches, because his eyes and voice have faded away.
Since arriving in Kaupo, my husband and I encountered many difficulties regarding the necessities and amenities of this earthly realm. However, these tribulations were surmounted through Paele Kalohelani’s enduring patience.
I am reminded of the many acts of kindness my husband performed for me, too many to count if all joined together.
The sickness began just before Christmas, with consumption, coughing and many other symptoms. Cures were sought, but the disease was too strong. In the end, it parted him from me, our children, our grandchild, and so many more, since my deceased husband had a large extended family.
The burden has been lifted. He has returned to the path that all must take.
In closing this lament, I ask of all who stood vigil over the mortal remains of the departed, please be so kind as to accept my unceasing, heartfelt gratitude and store it in a corner of your own heart. I also beseech Mr. and Mrs. A. V. Marciel Jr.,9 to accept my thanks for their assistance, and I further extend my gratitude to those who served as my husband’s pallbearers, gravediggers and so on. Finally, I ask Jehovah and Christ, His Child, to take this burden and sorrow from me, his children and his family, and pray for Jehovah to grant comfort in this world, spread love among children and mankind, and provide salvation through His Son. Amen.
I again entreat the editor and the typesetters to kindly convey my message of unending thanks. May God in heaven watch over all of us. In the name of the Father, the Child and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sorrowfully,
MRS. K. KALOHELANI
Children and family
Mokulau, Kaupo, Maui.
We Are in Mourning
("O Maua Pu Iloko O Ia U Pu Ana", Nupepa Kuokoa, January 25, 1923)
Mr. Solomon Hanohano, editor of the Nupepa Kuokoa, deepest regards—A request: If there is room on the deck of the treasure of the nation, would you please provide a place to accommodate this tearful news.
While we two were relaxing at home in Pauwela, the tragic news arrived—namely, that the Rev. Joseph Paele Kalohelani had departed this life—bringing a heavy heart, tears of grief and a breast filled with sorrow. How sad!
The late Rev. J. P. Kalohelani was a native of the Kaupo rain that makes one hide behind rock walls. With his passing, he leaves behind a widow, Mrs. Kaaikaula Kalohelani.
They have three sons and two daughters still living. We, the undersigned, are younger siblings of the deceased. What anguish!
Therefore, we join all of you, from the wife who has lost her husband to the children who have lost their father, in lamenting the grief, sorrow and pain that has been placed on you.
We pray to our Lord in heaven to ease the burden placed on us and through His grace watch over us while we are absent from one another.10
Mournfully,
L. A. KANAE,
MRS. K. KANAE,
Pauwela, Maui, Jan. 12, 1923.
My Dear Father, Who Has Sadly Departed
("Kuu Papa Aloha, Ua Hala Me Ka Luuluu Wale", Nupepa Kuokoa, February 1, 1923)
Mr. Solomon Hanohano, editor of the jewel of the Hawaiian nation, greetings:—Would you please be so kind as to set aside room in the Nupepa Kuokoa for the matter referenced above.
My father, the Rev. Joseph Kalohelani, and my mother, Mrs. J. P. Kaaikaula Kalohelani, had 13 children, of whom I am the eldest. While I was relaxing peacefully at home in Waialua, my sister called to relay the terrible news that our father Joseph Paele Kalohelani had departed from this life. How sorrowful!
This sad news reached me at 2:30 p.m. on January 8, 1923. I asked my mother if I should come see his body, saying Papa had left this world, so what was the point. I should come see him, she replied.
Thus, as a public servant, a police officer for Waialua District, Oahu, I went before H. H. Plemer, police chief for the district, to request leave to see my father’s body.
He readily approved my leave. I returned home, packed, and took a car to Honolulu. When I arrived at the harbor to board the Kilauea steamer, my sister11 met me since we would be travelling together. We cried together, and then I asked what had killed our father so suddenly but she had no information, only a telegram that Joseph Paele Kalohelani had left us, his children. What heartbreak!
We boarded the Kilauea and disembarked at Hana, Maui. Apuakea rain12 of Hana, you will no longer wet the cheeks of my dear father. He has vanished down the road all must travel. Wananalua Church, you will no longer hear my father’s voice from your pulpit. A car took us to Kipahulu. On arrival, our brother was waiting for us. When I saw him, our tears fell. It seemed as if our dear father was there as well. Love-snatching wind of Kipahulu,13 where my father preached the words of our Heavenly Father, you will no longer see my father in your parish. He has been lost to us forever.
We mounted horses, since there are only cliff trails there. When we reached the first cliff on leaving Kipahulu, this being the cliff at Lelekea, my brother said that it was here that Papa resided while working on the new road and here that he started to get sick. It began with a cough, and so he returned with our mother to Kaupo, Maui, where his illness grew stronger.
Ohia grove of Alelele and hat-snatching winds of Kalepa, neither of you will see Joseph Paele Kalohelani pass by again, as he has set out on the path of no return.14 When we arrived at the pastor’s house at the church of Mokulau, Kaupo, our dear widowed mother was waiting with my siblings for our arrival. We grieved together for our departed father who had left his wife, his grandchild and us, his children.
When this subsided, I went to see the red dirt of his grave. What sadness I felt in my heart that my father could no longer speak to us, his children.
With these affectionate thoughts for my father, I would like to send my sincere thanks to all who gathered on the day of my father’s funeral, as well as the gravediggers, those who built his casket15 and those who crafted the decorations for his body. Moreover, for all you recipients of my gratitude, I pray to our Heavenly Father to keep watch over us while we are apart.16
With regards to you, Solomon Hanohano, and the young typesetters of your printing office.
His firstborn,
SAMSON KALOHELANI PAELE,
Waialua, Oahu.
A Eulogy for Joseph Paele Kalohelani
("He Hoalohaloha No Joseph Paele Kalohelani", Nupepa Kuokoa, February 15, 1923)
Mr. Solomon Hanohano, greetings:—Please be so kind, if there is room in the Nupepa Kuokoa, to welcome the topic mentioned above onto its decks and ferry this sad news abroad.
On the morning of Saturday, January 6, 1923, news came by telephone that the Rev. J. P. Kalohelani had departed this life from the pastor’s house at Kaupo and returned to his beloved Lord in the land of respite above.
His death came as a shock, since it was just on December 3, 1922, that we had joined him at Wananalua Church in Hana for the convention of the Sunday schools and C. E. Societies17 of East Maui, filled with optimism for God’s work. Yet this was to be our final encounter, since soon after he departed this world and returned to his beloved Lord.
For many years, this fellow laborer was a constant presence among us of the churches of East Maui at the exhibitions of the Sunday schools and C. E. Societies. He was a frequent participant in the activities of the Presbytery of Maui, Molokai and Lanai and the convention for all the islands of the territory.
He was a devoted servant and fine shepherd for God’s work. What a pity! We are but sojourners in this world, all bound for the same destination.18
Therefore, we, the brethren of Wananalua Church, its Sunday school and its C. E. Society, join in sympathy with you, Mrs. J. P. Kalohelani, who have lost a beloved one who steadfastly served our dear Lord, and with your lei, your children, in shouldering the pain and sadness now upon us.
Resolved, we pray to the Heavenly Father to ease the pain brought on by sorrowful reflections on life. Through our devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ, may He wash away our tears of grief.
Resolved, that copies be forwarded to the widow and her children, and to the Nupepa Kuokoa.
Mournfully,
D. K. WAILEHUA
GEORGE OPIOPIO
MRS. MARY AKANA
Wananalua, Hana, Maui, Jan. 28, 1923
- Editor of Nupepa Kuokoa.
- “Lei” in the original Hawaiian.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7.
- Ecclesiastes 4:12.
- Kalohelani passed away 12 days before turning 64 (born January 18, 1859).
- Matthew 5:3.
- A poetic name for Lahaina. See entry No. 1936 in the book “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings“.
- “The four waters”, a poetic name for the region of central Maui that includes Waikapu, Wailuku, Waiehu and Waihee. See entry No. 2300 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- Antone Vierra Marciel, Jr. and Lily Aki Marciel.
- Genesis 31:49.
- Rebecca Kalohelani.
- A common poetic name for Hana.
- A poetic name for Kipahulu. See entry No. 1463 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau“.
- A common poetic saying for death. See entry No. 420 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- “House of rest” in literal translation.
- Again, Genesis 31:49.
- Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavour.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15.