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The 'Ohana of Francis Lono Kanahele is mourning his passing on February 7, 2023, in Fullerton, California, at the age of 91. Born September 12, 1931, in Honolulu, Hawai'i, Lono was the only brother of Beadie Kanahele Dawson (Nu'uanu), Muriel Kanahele Tice (Columbus, Ohio) and the late Patsy Anne Kinoulu Kanahele Hicks (Gilbert Hicks of Manoa). The four close siblings—children of Francis Ho'oka'amomi & Annie Lehua Asam Kanahele—grew up in a loving kama'aina home in the well-known Bates Street neighborhood of Nu'uanu Valley. They filled 'the days of their youth' with laughter, music, hiking, bike riding, swimming, storytelling, and picking ginger. The Kanahele keiki created a children's theater on Bates Street, writing their own poetry and dramatic plays, creating sets and wardrobe for their many neighborhood performances. Lono was a graduate of Punahou School, Class of 1950, where he excelled in athletics, lettering in both football and track. Lono's older sister Beadie Kanahele, Punahou Class of '47, remembers fondly how loved Lono was at the school, how he took care of his older Sis and how his love for music really began on the Punahou campus. The other two Kanahele siblings, Muriel and Patsy, both attended and graduated from Kamehameha Schools, Beadie says, because their parents did not want to put all "their eggs in one basket!"
Lono attended Pasadena City College on a football scholarship. One his closest friends from Punahou was Robert "Red" Murray Chapman. The two buddies were on a similar trajectory in life: Red and Lono both enlisted with the U.S. Coast Guard during the Korean War, later both graduated from Golden Gate College in San Francisco with degrees in accounting and went on to have careers in accounting. Lono loved music throughout his life and he and Red often played guitar and steel guitar, respectively, with their high school and college classmates. In California, Lono continued playing music and particularly loved jazz.
Lono was preceded in death by his parents Francis and Annie Kanahele, and sister Patsy Kanahele Hicks, who passed in February 2017, almost six years to the day of her brother.
Lono is survived by his son David (Kiera) and daughter Kim; former wife Ann Kanahele; sisters Muriel Kanahele Tice and Beadie Kanahele Dawson; brother-in-law Gilbert Hicks, and many nieces and nephews.
Lono will be laid to rest on April 21, 2023, 1:00 p.m. at Puowaina, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, final resting place of his parents.
In lieu of flowers, Lono's 'ohana asks that donations be made
to the Fullerton Friends of Jazz (https://friendsofjazzinc.com/product/donation/),
whose guiding motto is "Keeping Music in the Schools,"
or the Polynesian Voyaging Society in honor of the upcoming
Moananuiakea, A Voyage for Earth, the four-year,
43,000 nautical mile Pacific Ocean voyage of Hokule'a and Hikianalia.
2023 PVS Membership - Campaign (hokulea.com).
