In addition to working for the Diocese of Honolulu for 25 years and keeping tabs over a large extended family, Winona Blanche Leialoha Nobrega Kamai filled her time volunteering for a multitude of parish ministries, community activities and Hawaiian affairs. “Nona,” as everyone affectionately called her, died peacefully in her Honolulu home on July 21. She was 79.
Her funeral services were scheduled for Aug. 12 at Star of the Sea Church, Honolulu, with burial at Diamond Head Cemetery.
Kamai was administrative secretary and notary for the diocesan Business Office under two bishops, from 1984 until the mid-1990s. Prior to that, she worked for Catholic Social Service, the predecessor of Catholic Charities Hawaii.
As a long time member of St. Patrick Church in Kaimuki, Kamai served on the pastoral council, finance committee and RCIA team. She was also a Girl Scout leader, an outreach volunteer, eucharistic minister and homebound eucharistic minister. As of late, she attended Star of the Sea Church in Waialae-Kahala.
Winona Kamai was born Feb. 16, 1936, to Gilbert Stanley Nobrega and Mary Leialoha Kahoe Nobrega, in Honolulu. She graduated from the Sacred Hearts Academy and married Heine Ikaika Kamai on June 4, 1955. Together they raised two sons and two daughters.
She was an active member of many organizations including ‘Ahahui ‘O Ka’ahumanu, Hale ‘O Na Ali‘i, Waikiki Hawaiian Civic Club and Ewa Pu‘uloa Hawaiian Civic Club. She also served on the boards of the Catholic Youth Organization and Damien Museum.
Kamai created the Ali’i Nui Heine Ikaika Kamai KGCK Scholarship to honor her late husband.
Kamai is survived by sons David Ikaika Kamai and Devin Iliki Kamai; daughters Dwynn Leialoha Kamai and Dana “Kaleo” Kamai; granddaughter Cheyane Haunani Kamai; sisters Marilyn Cabatic, Gilberta Limasa, Cherle Kaholokula and Myrna Colbert; and brothers Herman Meyer and Archie Tanabe.
She also leaves behind a hanai family that includes Liane Davidson, Paulette Kahana, Kaleo Akim Hanohano, Charmaine Silva, Julie-Beth Ako, Kalei Wong Brown and Father Robert Stark.
Nona was preceded in death by her husband Heine Ikaika Kamai, her sister Nellie Tanabe, and brother Gilbert Nobrega.
