Uncle Boogie

Photo by Greg Lau

Photo by Brad Goda

Photo by Brad Goda

Rest in Heavenly Peace UNCLE BOOGIE

By Edean Saito

With the passing of Clarence “Boogie” Kahilihiwa on March 5, 2021, we lost a treasure of a man.

Uncle Boogie was a vivacious and selfless man. He had a heart of gold and loved to share his stories with the visitors he met at the Kalaupapa Bookstore.

At the young age of nine, in 1950, he was diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease and was removed from his family and home in Kalapana, Hawaii. He was admitted to the residential treatment facility, Hale Mohalu in Pearl City. He had family living in Kalaupapa Settlement which helped him to make the move to join them in 1959. His siblings and the older residents took him in and immediately he felt at home.

Uncle Boogie became a community leader. He was a champion of the patients of Kalaupapa. He worked tirelessly to honor and preserve the dignity of every person who was forced to relocate to the settlement. He was an active member and former President of the Kalaupapa Lions Club. He was President of Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit organization dedicated to remembering each of the nearly 8,000 people who were sent to Kalaupapa.

He wrote, “Our people fought with the government for better medication, a better way of life, and better understanding. They fought for our human rights and above all, our dignity. And through it all, our people have endured and persevered through the many obstacles they had to encounter because of the confinement and the stigma of discrimination. Today, I feel so humble and grateful for all the material things and for all the spiritual things that I have. I have come to love and embrace all the stories from our kupuna and to realize how delicate and important our stories and legacy are to our loved ones, our families and ‘ohana, and to all of you, the future generation.”

I had the great fortune of meeting and developing a wonderful friendship with Uncle Boogie when I first visited Kalaupapa to set up the bookstore in 1982. His wife, Ivy was one of our first employees. Uncle Boogie was still working for the State then but would always come to visit us and lend a hand at the bookstore during the day. He loved to “talk story” and was very open about sharing his experiences with me. He took me all over the peninsula in his pickup truck, sharing his love of the beautiful land. He welcomed me with open arms from that very first day.

After retiring from the State, Boogie joined the then Arizona Memorial Museum Association Bookstore to share his stories and those of the many who came before him to Kalaupapa.

I will truly miss this gentle giant who was Mr. Aloha to all and had a great passion for life.