Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 8, 1 August 2004 — He Hoʻomanaʻo Aloha No [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

He Hoʻomanaʻo Aloha No

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i i 1 1 I By Manu Boyd 1 I 1 § § P f | ^he term "hulu kupuna" expresses respect, esteem and aloha for an | | I elder whose life is long, experiences are many, and contemporaries f| | f are few. For the late Elizabeth Nālani Ellis, who went home to ke | f Akua June 15 at age 100, "hulu kupuna" is a most fitting honor. f 0 _ % P Elizabeth Nalani Mersberg Spencer MaeMillan Ellis, known simply as f| 1 Tūtū Mamma to many, was an educator, mentor, role model and an 1 s a p outstanding Hawaiian. Through the works of her daughter Betty f P Kawohiokalani Ellis Jenkins with the D.O.E. kupuna program and the | § Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Tūtū Mamma impacted many lives, long after f

P her own retirement f as an educator and f administrator. A | regular at OHA's f 'Aha Kūpuna, | I utu Mamma led | Hawaiian language f classes, easily P sharing stories f with other kūpuna, | many of whom were I years younger than f her- || "She really helped f to unloek memo- |§> I ries of other | P kūpuna who didf n't feel they had I mueh to share," f said longtime | OHA staffer Rona I Rodenhurst. "She § f was trained to I teach; she knew p educational theory | and practice; and § she was also | mānaleo (a native f speaker of Hawaiian)

f so she could really work wonders with the kūpuna. She was good at f P making others comfortable in the classroom, and she really brought out the | I best in them." 1 0 _ _ _ % | Tutu Mamma was born at Pa'auhau, Hawai'i, in 1904 — the hiapo, or || | eldest child, of Edward Poli'ahu Mersberg Spencer and Mary | f Kawohiokalani Ka'anana. She married Richmond Kaliko E 11 i s of f P Nāwiliwili, Kaua'i, and had a daughter and a son: Betty and Richmond Jr. | f Among her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren is mo'opuna f f Nālani Jenkins Choy, a member of the popular music group Nā Leo || 1 Pilimehana. I 0 II f In services at Kawaiaha'o Church on June 29, Hulu Kupuna Elizabeth f | Nālani Ellis was eulogized as an outstanding educator and aunt by her | f nieee, Winona Ellis Rubin, and as a mentor by Dr. Paul Ka'ikena Pearlsall, f 0 - - 1 p who has applied Tutu Mamma's values and philosophies at seminars p H 11 f around the world. Amid the presence of Hawaiian Royal Societies, 'ohana f 0 f and scores of friends, associates and admirers, Tūtū Mamma was honored f 1 for a lifetime of learning, teaching, sharing and aloha. ■ I

1 She really helpeel to unloek | memories of other kūpuna who 1 elieln^ feel they had mueh to | share. She was good at making 1 others comfortable , and she | i really brought out the best in | them." — Rona Rodenhurst 1 1 1