Helen Robinson, co-owner of Ni'ihau, dead at 91

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

Helen Matthew Robinson of Makaweli, Kaua'i, who with her two sons owned the island of Ni'ihau, died Wednesday. She was 91.

She was born in Washington, D.C., and met her future husband while vacationing in the Islands in 1935. She and Lester Robinson were married two years later.

She loved music and for many years was organist for the Waimea Foreign Church.

She was an active woman who played tennis with the USO during World War II.

In 1958, she led her sons on a strenuous hike over Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. At age 65, she spent 11 hours in the saddle during a cattle drive on Ni'ihau.

Upon her husband's death in 1969, a controlling interest in Ni'ihau and oversight of Ni'ihau Ranch fell to her. She delegated day-to-day management to her younger son, Bruce, but policy decisions were brought to her for ratification, said her elder son, Keith.

Over the years, the family has fended off offers to buy Ni'ihau and has protected the privacy of of the 200 or so Hawaiians who live on the island and continue to speak Hawaiian as their first language.

In recent years, Robinson had been in failing health and had left the management of the island and ranch entirely to her sons. She is survived by her two sons and seven grandchildren. Family services were held at her burial Thursday.