Gov. Neil Abercombie addresses the congregation at the funeral of Loretta Fuddy, Dec. 21, in the co-cathedral. (Photo courtesy of Oswald Bumanglag)
The separation of church and state was nowhere to be seen at the Dec. 21 wake and funeral Mass of Loretta Fuddy, the director of the state Department of Health who died in a plane crash off Kalaupapa Dec. 11.
The services, four days before Christmas, in the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa where Fuddy was an active member, brought together hundreds of colleagues, friends, associates, coworkers and fellow parishioners to celebrate her life and commend her to Paradise.
Starting at 9 a.m., hundreds of people stood for up to an hour in a line that stretched one and a half times the length of the church to extend condolences to the family of the state’s top health administrator.
Greeting all at the church door was Fuddy’s friend and former co-cathedral rector Father William Kunisch and the present rector Father Gregorio Honorio.
Father Kunisch described the late health director as being very involved in all aspects of the life of the parish.
During the visitation, the co-cathedral choir, of which Fuddy was a faithful member, sang religious and Hawaiian songs.
Students in uniform from Sacred Hearts Academy, where Fuddy graduated, signed in guests and passed out orders of worship and pink memorial cards with Loretta Fuddy’s photo and the Prayer of St. Francis.
In attendance, from her public service side, were the governor and lieutenant governor, state senators and representatives, labor leaders and educators. From her life of faith were her fellow co-cathedral parishioners, students and alumnae from Sacred Hearts Academy, and the Sisters of St. Francis who, like Fuddy, have a Kalaupapa connection.
Fuddy died after the Makani Kai plane she was in was forced to make an ocean landing when it experienced what the pilot described as “catastrophic engine failure” soon after leaving Kalaupapa, Molokai, on its way to Honolulu.
The other seven passengers and the pilot survived.
She had been in Kalaupapa for a meeting with the Hansen’s disease patients. Kalaupapa is part of Kalawao County, which, because of its history as a settlement for people with leprosy, comes under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health.
State Rep. Della Au Bellati, in brief remarks, thanked Fuddy’s family for “sharing such a beloved and precious sister and aunt with the public.”
She described the late health director as a “gift to the community … a quiet, persistent, fearless advocate” for public health.
“I am going to miss her persistent voice at the legislature,” Au Bellati said.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie, addressing the mourners, described Fuddy as a “deeply spiritual person, totally committed to the values of her (Catholic) faith.”
He said she lived up to her “strong Catholic beliefs.”
The governor appointed Fuddy, who came with 30 years of experience in the field of health and human services, as the director of the State Department of Health on March 2, 2011. She was an acknowledged leader in public health in Hawaii and the recipient of numerous awards.
In 2004, Sacred Hearts Academy honored her as one of its distinguished alumnae.
On the day of Loretta Fuddy’s funeral, Pope Francis gave a talk that proved appropriate in the remembrance of the health director.
The pope, speaking to members of the Vatican curia, or central offices, described the three qualities of a good curial official: “professionalism,” “service” and “holiness of life.”
Though he was referring to the church bureaucracy, those same qualities could describe Fuddy’s work in the secular “curia” of the state.
With regards to professionalism and service, there was no doubt that Fuddy excelled.
As for demonstrating a “holiness of life” in a state job, Pope Francis’ description seems to allow for it.
“Holiness means a life immersed in the Spirit, a heart open to God, constant prayer, deep humility and fraternal charity in our relationships with our fellow workers,” the pope said. “It also means apostleship, discreet and faithful pastoral service, zealously carried out in direct contact with God’s people.”
From the pope’s perspective, Loretta Fuddy’s professionalism and dedication removed any wall separating her faith and her public service, and Hawaii was the better for it. Her funeral bore that out.
