Aloha 'Oe, Don Ho: 1930-2007
 

The King of Waikiki Entertainment died this morning of a heart attack.

A world icon who helped put us on the map, he will be greatly missed by kama`aina and visitors alike.

"Tiny bubbles...make me warm all over...
With the feeling that I'm going to love you till the end of time..."

R.I.P. Don :(

Ohhhhh...:( :( :(

When I was in Southern Singers at Texas, we went to Hawaii in 1972. We went to Don's show and he got us all up on stage to sing. I'm so sorry to hear of his passing.:(

WOW! We were JUST talking about him this afternoon, when we were planning our trip to Hawaii!

Sorry to hear of his passing...

Wow.....he was such an icon and now he's gone. He will definitely be missed.:(

We sang that song during sorority rush while we were waiting in between the various parties!

If you guys aren't doing anything on a Saturday night and want to watch a local Hawaiian send-off like you will not believe, Don Ho's memorial will be broadcasted live via streaming internet here:

http://khnl.com/Global/category.asp?C=3495&nav=menu55_1

It'll start at 4:30 PM HST and Aunty Cha said they're expecting 25,000+ to flock to Queen's Surf. Mom booked us at the Sheraton for the weekend and as I look out the lanai, about a thousand people have already assembled in front of the stage to get a good seat for the celebration of his life.

Mom and I were invited (to represent my late father, a former Waikiki Beach Boy) to paddle out for the scattering of Don Ho's ashes. I still can't believe it. It's really an honor.

Anyway...hopefully y'all will be able to stay up till the end. Hoku Ho (Perfect Day-Legally Blonde) will be singing her dad's signature song "I'll Remember You" and I'm sure there won't be a dry eye on the beach after that.

Waikiki entertainment will never be the same.

Wow you'll definitely have to let us know how that goes! That is a pretty huge honor. What is a Waikiki Beach Boy?

A good description can be found here. My dad wasn't one of the originals, but he was part of the 2nd generation that took over as the original boys started to retire. He hung out with the legendary Duke Kahanamoku on a regular basis and if you go to Duke's Restaurant in Waikiki, you'll still see pics of my dad and all his homies from the 60s/70s.

I remember going to see Don Ho's shows as a kid and I knew that he was Dad's good friend, but it wasn't till I was much older that I realized how popular he really was around the world.

Hey, do you know a guy named Jerry Whaley? He's Don Ho's cousin (looks a lot like him) who coached the UH cheerleaders.

Don't know Jerry Whaley, but if he was Don's cousin, then I'm sure my dad probably did!

Last night was absolutely amazing, and I'm still in shock that we were invited to the service.

I contemplated bringing the camera out to sea (we paddled 1/4 mile out), but I'm glad I didn't now, because the canoe carrying two of his daughters sank as we were coming back! :eek: These pics were taken my the dude I'm currently seeing while we were in the water:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...sc/donho_2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...sc/donho_4.jpg

Thousands lined the beach fronting Duke's as the outrigger canoes paddled out to sea. About 30 canoes carried us out, while hundreds more (invited or not) paddled out on their boards.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...sc/donho_5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...sc/donho_6.jpg

They danced on the beach while the news stations rolled. The memorial service and celebration of life concert broadcast live throughout the state last night.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...sc/donho_3.jpg

Here's the armada of boats and canoes, and the HFD fire boat shooting water before and during the scattering of the ashes.

Just before the scattering of his ashes, the silence was broken by a F-15 ANG fly-by, dipping the wing, then shooting vertical. Not a lot of people knew that Don Ho was in the Air Force, and his memorial service included full military honors.

You can't see it in this picture, but the employees of the Hilton Hawaiian Village created a 76 foot long plumeria lei (one foot for each year of his life) that draped the lead catamaran.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...sc/donho_7.jpg

The view from our 16th Floor lanai. About 150-200 of us were invited, and hundreds more tried to listen in on the service.

The following I filched from HS-B:

http://starbulletin.com/2007/05/06/promo.jpg

Don's widow holding some of his ashes. Each child received his/her own as well to scatter. His ashes were wrapped in ti-leaves, ho`okupu style. I thought it was pretty cool how the mothers of his 4 youngest children, Patty and Elizabeth, were also included in the service. A helicopter dropped thousands of petals as his ashes were scattered in the ocean.

http://starbulletin.com/2007/05/06/news/art1b.jpg
Daughter Hoku, best known for her song "Perfect Day" from Legally Blonde.

http://starbulletin.com/2007/05/06/news/art1a.jpg

A better view of the canoes.

Also, here's a slideshow from last night.

It was quite the sendoff befitting a wonderful man.

It looks to be a beautiful and perfect service for a legendary man.

Don Ho's Daughter Found Dead
 

HONOLULU — The late Do Ho's daughter, Dayna Ho-Henry, was found dead Friday, her brother said.

The 51-year-old's death comes less than a week after the Waikiki Beach funeral for her father, who died April 14 of heart failure at age 76.

Ho-Henry was one of the legendary singer's 10 children. The entertainer is best known for his catchy signature tune "Tiny Bubbles."

No foul play is suspected, police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said.

"The family is grieving the loss of my sister and we're just trying to make sense of it," said Ho-Henry's brother, Dwight Ho.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner's office said Friday afternoon that it had no information to release about the death.

http://i2.tinypic.com/4z1yp2u.jpg

Dayna is seen here in the water, holding her step-mother's hand as the F-15 flew over.

We learned of her death shortly after Dwight found her and I had to break the news to my sister, who'll have to fly back again for funeral services. We still don't know the cause of death, but my heart aches for this family. They've been going through so much already...