Educator was head of Hawaii-Southwest Sisters of St. Francis
Sister Florence Remata, the minister of the Hawaii-Southwest Region of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, fulfilled one of her favorite quotations, “All things are passing; God alone suffices,” when she passed into eternity on Aug. 3, at Queen’s Medical Center after a brief illness. She was 75 and a religious for 57 years. (“Minister” is the current term for “superior.”)
Sister Florence was born on Nov. 24, 1938, in Waimea, Kauai, the sixth of 12 children of the late Crisanto and Vicente Omakanim Remata. She graduated from Saint Francis Convent School on Oahu and joined the Sisters of St. Francis in 1956.
At her investiture in the Franciscan habit in 1957, she received the religious name of Sister M. Innocentia. She professed her first religious vows in 1959 and her final vows in 1961. When she returned to her baptismal name of Florence, she chose St. Therese the Little Flower as her patron saint in honor of her home parish of St. Theresa in Kekaha, Kauai.
Sister Florence earned a bachelor of science degree from Chaminade College of Honolulu and a master of arts degree from Santa Clara University. She received the Our Lady of Peace Award from the Diocese of Honolulu in 1991.
In a 2011 Herald interview, Sister Florence recalled her country-girl education attending St. Theresa Parish School.
“The sisters taught me how to use the fork to eat, how to dance and all the social graces so that I wouldn’t be a wallflower,” she said.
She also remembered selling subscriptions to the Hawaii Catholic Herald at the camp chicken fights.
“And then, when I wanted to become a nun, I sold popcorn at the plantation movie nights for ten cents to help fundraise for my dowry,” she said. “But, the sisters had everything already prepared.”
Sister Florence’s ministries were primarily in Catholic school and parish religious education. She taught at St. Peter School, Riverside, N.J.; St. Joseph School, Hilo, where she also was vice principal; and Our Lady of Good Counsel School, Pearl City.
She also served as director of religious education at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Pearl City, and at St. Patrick, Chittenango, N.Y.
In 1995, Sister Florence asked for permission to return to her home island of Kauai to care for her 86-year-old mother. During the 17 years she spent on the island, she served at Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue as the director of religious education and as pastoral associate.
As the pastoral associate she was a bereavement minister, visited the homebound, and coordinated RCIA, baptismal preparations and faith formation for adults.
She is also the spiritual director for the Filipino Catholic Club and the lay Franciscan Associates and was the island’s liaison for the diocesan Department of Religious Education.
Sister Florence was joined by other Franciscan Sisters in 1997 to help open the island’s first Catholic high school, a satellite of St. Francis School in Manoa on Oahu. Unfortunately, St. Francis School, Lihue, lasted only four years.
She was the first, and also the last, Sister of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities to be assigned to Kauai. She left in 2013, after her mother died at age 103.
“I love ministry on Kauai,” Sister Florence told the Hawaii Catholic Herald at the time.
“To be back on my home island and serving the people of Hawaii is close to my heart,” she said. “The people of Kauai are church-oriented and value priests and religious.”
Friends nicknamed her “The Mayor of Kauai” for her friendliness and outreach.
In 2013, Sister Florence was elected regional minister for the Franciscan Sisters in Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Texas. Her all-too-brief term was characterized by her spirituality, hospitality and inclusivity.
True to her belief that “the glory of God is a person fully alive,” she cherished her personal, Franciscan and parish families, her friends and co-workers, her students and the Franciscan Associates, especially those she invited and formed in Kauai. She enjoyed time devoted to spiritual reading and dancing for exercise.
Sister Florence is survived by eight brothers David, Edward, Alfredo and Richard Remata, all of Kauai; Stanley Remata of Pearl City; and Wilfred, Lawrence and Patrick Remata of California; and three sisters Mildred Olores, Elizabeth Aquino and Vivian Nonaka all of Kauai.
She has 30 nephews and nieces, 60 grandnephews and grandnieces and 11 great grandnephews and great grandnieces.
Her survivors also include the Sisters of Saint Francis and their Associates.
Sister Florence’s wake and funeral services are Aug. 18 at St. Pius X Church in Manoa. Visitation is 3:30-4:45 p.m., the Liturgy of Christian Burial at 5 p.m. followed by a reception in the parish hall.
Burial is at 9 a.m. the next day at Diamond Head Cemetery
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the retirement fund of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, St. Francis Convent, 2715 Pamoa Road, Honolulu HI 96822-1885.
Sister Florence lived with the belief that her peace lay in God’s will. May she rest eternally in the peace of God whom she so faithfully loved and served.
