Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 7, 1 July 1998 — Lydia Nāmahanaikaleleokalani Taylow Maioho 1921-- 1998 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Lydia Nāmahanaikaleleokalani Taylow Maioho 1921-- 1998

By Nanette Napoleon Pu rn e II Ua hala ka wehi lani o Mauna 'Ala i ka noe kolopua o Waipuhia. Auē, ke aloha nō... AFTER A SOLEMN procession from Mauna 'Ala to O'ahu Cemetery, reminiscent of the regal corteges that dignified the Hawaiian monarchy, Lydia Nāmahanaikaleleokalani Taylor Maioho was laid to rest on June 6. She was 77 when she died and had been curator at Mauna 'Ala for 28 years. Before the funeral, Maioho's ashes lay in state in the historic stone ehapel where many ali'i had preceded her. The simple wooden urn, carved by Billy Fields, rested on an altar decorated with dozens of lei and flanked by stained glass windows and towering kāhili. Friends and family kept vigil through the night. Several hundred moumers gathered for the 8 a.m. service, spilling out of the tiny ehapel into a tented area equipped with chairs and a sound system. Members of Nānāikapono Hawaiian Civic Club, to whieh Maioho had belonged, sang a musical tribute. Representatives of Māmakakaua and Paka'iaholo rotated at the altar and at the entrance to the ehapel. Ka'upena Wong and Nathan Nāpōkā offered ho'ouēuē chants and David Parker read through ten generations of Maioho's genealogy whieh included connections to several chiefly lines.

GOVERNOR BENJAMIN Cayetano and Department of Land and Natural Resources Director Miehael Wilson were among those eulogizing Maioho. "For Aunty Lydia, being the caretaker at Mauna 'Ala was not a job, but her destiny. She was a noble daughter of Hawai'i nei," the governor commented. "Aunty Lydia taught me 'hemolele' means 'holy,'" said Wilson, referring to the word carved into the wood paneling of the altar, "and I felt holy sitting at her side every time I asked her for advice about a difficult decision I had to make." Family members read passages from the Bible. Patrick Iopa Maioho described his grandmother's zest for life as so vital she was labeled the "Hawaiian energizer bunny." Jalna Keala, OHA government affairs officer, praised her friend's sense of humor and her enjoyment of travel and learning. "People from all walks of life knocked on her cottage door, the rich, the famous, the poor, the obscure, to seek her wisdom and advice," Keala said. Nu'uanu Avenue was closed to traffic so the procession could cross to the cemetery where, after brief prayers, Lydia Nāmahana Maioho's um was placed in the earth next to the grave of her mother, Emily Kekaula Taylor, and then covered with ferns and flowers. ■ Editor's note: Writer and historian Nanette Pumell was Lydia Nāmahana Maioho's close friend. i

"For Aunty Lydia, being the earetaker at Mauna 'Ala was not a job, but her destiny. She was a noble daughter of Hawai'i nei." -6overnorBen (ayetano

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