Through her 89 years of vibrant life, Irmgard Farden Aluli was never far in spirit from her home in Puamana in the Lahaina area of Maui.
Aluli was working as a field agent for the University of Hawai'i's Agricultural Extension Service on Moloka'i when she composed the song "Puamana" to express her longing for home. It would be the first, and to many most beloved, of Aluli's hit songs.
Though Aluli never kept track of such things, it is believed that she composed more than 300 songs in her lifetime, including "Boy from Laupahoehoe," "One More Round," and "E Maliu Mai."
Aluli was born in 1911, the ninth of 13 children who grew up surrounded by music. Accomplished on guitar, 'ukulele, bass and piano, Aluli was also an outstanding singer with a innate feel for the nuances of Hawaiian music.
In the late 1960s, Aluli formed "Puamana" with sister Diana Farden. The group would gain popularity in the 1970s and '80s as a quartet featuring Aluli, her daughters Mihana and Aima, and her niece Luana.
Aluli, a member of the Hawai'i Music Hall of Fame of Fame, continued to perform well into her 80s, despite an injury that cost her the use of one of her hands. Aluli died with family and friends serenading her on Oct. 4, 2001, two months after being designated a "living treasure" by the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club and just three days shy of her 90th birthday.
