ANNETTA WEDEMEYER JOHNS KINNICUTT March 10, 1940 - June 2, 2016 Annetta Kinnicutt - teacher, writer, painter, ceramicist, gardener, activist and loving wife and mother - left friends and family and her many former students on June 2, 2016. Born in Honolulu, she was 76 when she passed at home surrounded by her family. Annetta moved to and grew up in Los Angeles after the war, but along with her sister Judy, spent virtually every summer with family in her beloved Hawaii. After graduating from the University of Oregon, she returned to the islands to begin a teaching career that spanned 50 years and included several years in the Far East teaching in the U.S. military school system on bases in Japan. In Hawaii, "Miss Johns" at various times taught elementary grades, gifted and talented programs and art at Laie Elementary School, Lanikai Elementary, Voyager Public Charter School and Hanahau'oli School in Makiki. Her unique ability to creatively motivate her students at every level to love learning and achieve their full potential was an inspiration to those she worked with and to many of her students as well. Outside of the classroom, she was a loving mother to son Kainoa and daughter Leiana and a wonderfully beautiful wife to Phil, her husband of 47 years. At the same time she was active in community affairs, pursued her creative interests in poetry, painting and ceramics and found time to earn a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She was an original and long standing member of the Kailua Neighborhood Board, an active participant in the effort to preserve Kawainui Marsh and the lead horticultural teacher for the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle's "Learning to Grow" Project at the Women's Community Correctional Center. She also created and maintained a unique artifact and ceramic filled "fairy garden" in the back yard of her Kalaheo Hillside home that still inspires awe and amazement among both children and adults. Annetta loved Hawaii with a passion equaled by few and was proud of her Hawaiian heritagesomething she passed on to Kainoa and Leiana and instilled in her husband. She was deeply committed to the education and well-being of all children and followed the achievements of her students through college and later in life with a deep sense of pride and accomplishment. She is survived by her many students, husband Phil, children Kainoa and Leiana, sister Judy Leach and daughter-in-law Julie. A celebration of her life will be held at the Kaneohe Yacht Club on Monday, August 8th at 4:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations in her honor may be made to the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle "Learning to Grow" project, C/O Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle, P.O. Box 261, Kailua, HI 96734 Condolences: www.oahumortuary.com.
ANNETTA WEDEMEYER JOHNS KINNICUTT March 10, 1940 - June 2, 2016 Annetta Kinnicutt - teacher, writer, painter, ceramicist, gardener, activist and loving wife and mother - left friends and family and her many former students on June 2, 2016. Born in Honolulu, she was 76 when she passed at home surrounded by her family. Annetta moved to and grew up in Los Angeles after the war, but along with her sister Judy, spent virtually every summer with family in her beloved Hawaii. After graduating from the University of Oregon, she returned to the islands to begin a teaching career that spanned 50 years and included several years in the Far East teaching in the U.S. military school system on bases in Japan. In Hawaii, "Miss Johns" at various times taught elementary grades, gifted and talented programs and art at Laie Elementary School, Lanikai Elementary, Voyager Public Charter School and Hanahau'oli School in Makiki. Her unique ability to creatively motivate her students at every level to love learning and achieve their full potential was an inspiration to those she worked with and to many of her students as well. Outside of the classroom, she was a loving mother to son Kainoa and daughter Leiana and a wonderfully beautiful wife to Phil, her husband of 47 years. At the same time she was active in community affairs, pursued her creative interests in poetry, painting and ceramics and found time to earn a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She was an original and long standing member of the Kailua Neighborhood Board, an active participant in the effort to preserve Kawainui Marsh and the lead horticultural teacher for the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle's "Learning to Grow" Project at the Women's Community Correctional Center. She also created and maintained a unique artifact and ceramic filled "fairy garden" in the back yard of her Kalaheo Hillside home that still inspires awe and amazement among both children and adults. Annetta loved Hawaii with a passion equaled by few and was proud of her Hawaiian heritagesomething she passed on to Kainoa and Leiana and instilled in her husband. She was deeply committed to the education and well-being of all children and followed the achievements of her students through college and later in life with a deep sense of pride and accomplishment. She is survived by her many students, husband Phil, children Kainoa and Leiana, sister Judy Leach and daughter-in-law Julie. A celebration of her life will be held at the Kaneohe Yacht Club on Monday, August 8th at 4:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations in her honor may be made to the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle "Learning to Grow" project, C/O Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle, P.O. Box 261, Kailua, HI 96734 Condolences: www.oahumortuary.com.
Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased
