Clockwise from left top, Kiddy’s playground in memory of Kristin “Kiddy” Gudbjorg Jonsdottir DeCoster; Bishop Larry Silva blesses the play structure assisted by seminarian Taylor Mitchell; the late Kristin “Kiddy” DeCoster. (Screengrabs from video by Jay Dunn)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
It must have been agony for the kids to have to wait for the adults to finish talking. But while the purple posts and bars and ladders and platforms of the shiny new playground at St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church in Mililani beckoned enticingly, the main man in the playground still had important things to say.
“We all know that play is very important for children,” Bishop Larry Silva told the dozens of people assembled outside the afternoon of July 5 for the blessing of Kiddy’s Playground, dedicated to the children of St. John Preschool by the late Kristin “Kiddy” Gudbjorg Jonsdottir DeCoster.
“That is how they develop,” the bishop continued. “That’s how they learn to get along with one another. That is where they learn to use their muscles and become more coordinated. And, of course, play is important for all of us.”
The bishop spoke on. “We thank God for ‘Kiddy’ DeCoster in whose name the playground is dedicated and for Dan Del Monte for making the donation in her name. And we thank God for all the children who will be using this structure.”
The bishop’s remarks were then followed by Scripture readings by the pastor Father Anthony Rapozo and prayers, followed by the bishop walking around the structure, sprinkling it high and sprinkling it low with holy water.
Finally.
The formalities over, Bishop Silva exclaimed, “OK kids, go for it!”
Cheers and applause!
The dedication was followed by Mass inside the church celebrated by bishop and pastor.
The playground memorialized a remarkable woman, said Del Monte, who was a close friend of hers in her final years.
Born in 1933 in Iceland, DeCoster grew up shearing sheep and spinning their wool into yarn with which she would crochet into mittens, hats, scarves and other things. She met her husband Richard DeCoster, a U.S. submarine cook, when he was stationed in Iceland.
After Richard retired from the Navy, the two settled in Hawaii and became parishioners at St. John Parish in Mililani.
The couple met Del Monte at Pearl Harbor in 1979, while he was doing restoration work on the USS Bowfin, the sub on which Richard was assigned at the close of WWII.
In Hawaii, Kiddy and her husband threw themselves into numerous volunteer activities at the parish and for the care of veterans.
Richard died in 1997, but Kiddy continued her bighearted ways, which included resurrecting her childhood crocheting skills, making hats for cancer victims and thousands of lei for new parishioners and visitors to St. John Parish. For anyone with a military connection, the lei was created with red, white and blue yarn.
Kiddy died in Del Monte’s arms on April 5, 2021.
“They gave to everyone and volunteered for everything,” her obituary read.