Eia ko‘u mo‘okū‘auhau.
‘O William Punihele Haia ke kāne. ‘O ia ko‘u kupunakāne kualua.
‘O Elizabeth Kamanolo Haia ka wahine. ‘O ia ko‘u kupunahine kualua.
Noho lāua a hānau ‘ia ‘o Thelma Leilani Haia Akana, ko‘u kupunahine kuakahi.
Noho ‘o ia me John Eliot Kamana‘o Akana, ko‘u kupunakāne kuakahi.
Hānau ‘ia ‘o Thelma Leilani Ramsey Akana, ko‘u kupunahine.
Noho ‘o ia me John George Wentworth, ko‘u kupunakāne.
Hānau ‘ia ‘o John George Wentworth Akana, ko‘u makuakāne.
Noho ‘o ia me Doris-anne Melani Akoi Akana, ko‘u makuahine.
Hānau ‘ia ‘o Keolani Ho‘ipo Akoi Akana. ‘O wau ‘o Keolani Ho‘oipo Akoi Akana.
E ola ka hāloa o ku‘u ‘ohana.
E ola!

My Nana, as we called her, was a beloved daughter, mother, grandmother, wife, and sister. We all loved her for her teachings. She taught us all well and loved us all equally. My great-grandmother was the one I really looked forward to seeing when I went home on common weekends. Since I was away from home when she left us on earth, I miss her even more, because I did not get to see her before she left. I came back to school three weeks before she passed away, and I was the only one that never had the chance to see her within a day of her death. When I received the bad news, it was the most tragic day of my life. I broke down crying in the middle of the Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Middle School office. I actually had had the heads-up from my Dad the day before, but it still hurt. My Dad had said to me, "Be ready to come home if you can, as soon as possible, because we don’t know how long she will be here with us." I broke down crying at that moment, because I thought of her suffering. She had been in an elderly care home on Maui, and we decided to bring her home to make her happy. She was gone within a day.

Originally from O‘ahu, Thelma was born on October 10, 1920. Her parents were William Punihele Haia and Elizabeth Kamanolo-Haia, from Kapi‘olani, Honolulu. She grew up to be a beautiful lady and later met the man of her dreams, John Eliot Kaman‘o Akana. They later got married at the Church of the Crossroads in Mānoa, on August 1, 1944. They had three children and also took hānai her eldest daughter’s first-born child. Her first child, named after her, was Thelma Leilani Akana. Then came Eliot Punihele Akana, then Rita Puanani Akana. Nana loved her children and was always there to help them. For example, when Leilani, her first child, had her own child and was having trouble, Nana took him as if he were her own. This was my father, John George Wentworth Akana. He grew up being not only Thelma’s grandson, but also her son.

Thelma became a teacher and served at many schools. For her internship she taught at a school on the Big Island. No one knows exactly which school it was. She also taught at Hāna High and Elementary School in Hāna on the island of Maui. She later went on to Ma‘ema‘e Elementary in Liliha to become an elementary teacher, where she then retired after thirty years. After her retirement, Nana sold real estate, and then she and her husband moved to the east side of Maui for some relaxation. She loved it there and was always in the yard tending to her beautiful garden, growing roses, orchids, plumeria, mangoes, and anything else you can think of! That was not the only thing Thelma liked to do, however, she also loved to paint. She painted pretty pictures of the bay she lived next to, Kapueokahi or, as the locals call it, Hāna Bay. She loved to use natural resources and painted on rocks to make paperweights. She was always there for her children and grandchildren, teaching my sister and I to do many things that not even our parents taught us, such as painting, drawing, cooking, and gardening.

Nana loved her sugar and hid her candy from her grandchildren when they came over! Her ice cream was hidden in the back of the freezer where none of us could reach it. Her cookies were in the jar in the back of the counter, also where we could not reach them. She also loved to cook for us, and baked all kinds of pies for us on Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. She even baked cookies that we could eat if we were lucky. Besides seeing each other, her baking what we all looked forward to when it came close to those holidays. No one can cook the say she did, and we all miss it. Nana left us to be with our Father in Heaven on November 18, 2005.

Along with her cooking, my Nana will be missed by all the hearts that she had touched during her time here with us. We love and miss her. Nana looked forward to a bright future for each and every one of her grandchildren. She always told us to do the best we could in school, and I try as hard as I can to follow her instructions while I am here at Kamehameha.