A Eulogy for Our Beloved Child Robert Kalei Momi Piimauna
("He Hoalohaloha no ka Maua Lei Aloha Heleloa Robert Kalei Momi Piimauna", Nupepa Kuokoa, December 20, 1923)
Mr. Solomon Hanohano, editor of the Nupepa Kuokoa, greetings:—Please allow us some space in the treasure of the nation for our message of tears and sorrow about our beloved deceased child, our lei, Robert K. Piimauna to inform the numerous friends living from where the sun rises at Kumukahi to where it sets at Lehua.
On Friday, June 1, our dear child was at school. That afternoon after school had been released by the teacher was when the trouble began. His foot became bumpy and swollen, but not significantly so.
All that night he was not able to sleep. The pain increased in the veins in his foot, and so his foot was elevated. We bought medicine, but it did not provide comfort.
On Monday morning, he was somewhat better and could put his foot down and hoped that the worst was over. But on Tuesday, the doctor was called from Hana.
That afternoon, the doctor arrived and operated at the wound site but it was too late. Before the doctor had come, he had trouble speaking and was talking incoherently. The doctor only had one instruction for us: wash it clean.
The doctor spent that night at the home of the Marciels. On Wednesday morning, the doctor came back to check in. “O, how my belly hurts! It’s worsening.” The doctor replied, “Poor Robert. It’s too late.”
Dr. Litchenfels informed the Marciels that it was sepsis, a swift-moving disease.
Thus, our beloved child passed away at 8 in the morning on Wednesday, June 6, 1923, leaving us a heavy burden of grief to wear as a lei.
Our dear child was born at Halaulani, Kaupo, Maui on March 28, 1907, to me, his beloved mother, Mrs. Rebecca Piimauna, and his father, Joseph Piimauna. Therefore, he had breathed the cold air of this life for 16 years and some months. How heartbreaking!
He left behind his brothers and sisters.
Our child was caring toward his parents, gentle, humble and gracious. He patiently endured scarcity and poverty. God bestowed many good qualities upon him. He was a monument that we will never forget. Behold the love that cannot be extinguished. Who could fail to love him, as many had found.
When he was 8, his hand was disfigured in an accident. What happened was he fell and his right hand went into a fire. Because of this, he lost one finger. When he was 14, he was taken to Hana Hospital, under the care of Dr. Litchenfels. He was operated on six times, and he emerged in good health. The problem was that the tendons of the hand had been damaged and no longer worked. In accordance with the opinion of the doctor, the [left] hand was amputated. He lost another finger on the other [right] hand as well, leaving three.
We offer our endless gratitude to Dr. Litchenfels and Miss L. Choy. Please accept our unending thanks for your wonderful care.
Also to you, Mrs. Josephine Marciel, we will not forget you. You and I have lost our beloved pearl lei, gone on the road of no return.
Because of your assistance to the poor, offered with an open heart and love of your fellow man, the cliffs were not a challenge for our pearl. You patiently carried him on his journey three times. Josephine Marciel, you open-hearted girl, please accept our immeasurable gratitude.
Our thanks to you, Mrs. Louisiana Keawe and Mrs. Elena Smith, for standing watch with us in the hours of grief from Tuesday night until Wednesday morning when your brother passed away. Because of your aid and comfort while grief clouded our thoughts, you have performed acts of love that we will never forget. Please accept our unending gratitude.
Our thanks as well to the acquaintances, friends and family who gave a helping hand.
Thanks to all for your gifts of flowers that adorned our own beloved lei, our child. Please accept our boundless gratitude.
Our unending thanks as well to you, Mrs. Lily Marciel and Mrs. Emma Kalohelani, matriarchs of our child’s home for seeking wisdom. You touched our hearts by canceling school for two days, as well as for undertaking to rent the truck of Nicholas Soon1 to fill with bouquets and students, driving along the road with bouquets in the hands of every student.
I have lived in this area for over 20 years and have never seen anything as exquisite as that.
His schoolmates encircled his casket while the teachers sang hymns of lamentation with tears pouring down. It was touching and awe-inspiring to see.
After that, the brothers and sisters of the Congregationalist faith sang the hymn, “Hele mai na luhi, luhi kaumaha nei”.2
Thanks to Sister Josephine Kamai for her compassion and love.
His earthly remains were placed in a grave at the Catholic church [St. Joseph], thus fulfilling the words of the Good Book, “Dust shall turn to dust again”.3
What grief for my child, my friend, my traveling companion, my fellow laborer, the one who I huddled with in the cold! What grief for my pearl lei! What unending sorrow!
Therefore, we parents who have lost our child give our endless thanks to you family members, friends and acquaintances for joining us to mourn together.
We offer our enormous thanks to the friends who watched over him with us all through that final night, as well as to the gravediggers and the many who carried him along his final journey. What sorrow!
Please take these thanks, and may the Father in heaven have mercy on us all. Amen.
Our love to you, Solomon Hanohano, and with regards for the youths of your printing press.4
We being the parents deprived of our beloved lei.
JOSEPH PIIMAUNA,
MRS. R. PIIMAUNA,
Kaupo, Maui.
- Nick Soon established Kaupo Store a few years after this article
- “Come Unto Me, Ye Weary”.
- Ecclesiastes 3:20
- The typesetters
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