Top: Bishop Larry Silva presided May 29 at the Oahu funeral for Meli Watanuki, a resident of Kalaupapa who died May 17 at age 91. The service at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu was attended by family, friends and community members who remembered Watanuki as a strong-willed, joyful presence who made everyone feel […]
Meli Watanuki of Kalaupapa / 1934-2026: Joyful and hard-working, Aunty knew ‘you never give up’
By Valerie Monson Special to the Herald Kalaupapa lost one of its brightest personalities recently with the death of Meli Watanuki, a pillar of St. Francis Church and a tireless worker who became a businesswoman last year, just before her 91st birthday. Meli died at the Kalaupapa Care Home May 17 following a short illness. […]
A new start for Kalaupapa
The Kalaupapa Saints Tour highlights a fraught yet hopeful and faith-filled history The Kalaupapa Saints Tour takes visitors to Kalawao — the first area of the Kalaupapa peninsula that was settled by Hansen’s disease patients — via a dusty, rocky road. (Photos by Celia K. Downes / Hawaii Catholic Herald) By Celia K. DownesHawaii Catholic […]