Her story spans a period of Honolulu history few others have lived to see.

Born in San Francisco in 1905, Erdman attended Miss Hall's School and Vassar College before marrying Harold R. Erdman, grandson of Benjamin F. Dillingham on Sept. 11, 1929, in Piedmont, Calif.

The young couple returned to Honolulu and began construction of their dream home on the slopes of Diamond Head, an area subdivided by Harold Erdman's uncle, Walter Dillingham, just mauka of Dillingham's fabled home La Pietra.

The following June, the young couple had a daughter, born at the Kapiolani Maternity Home.

Just over a year later, in July 1931, Harold Erdman, a graduate of Punahou and Princeton, was fatally injured in a polo match at Kapi'olani Field when his horse fell and rolled over him.

He died after remaining in a coma for a month.

In his memory, his family donated to the YMCA a stretch of Mokule'ia Beach that was named Camp Harold Erdman, which remains a favorite destination for thousands of Hawai'i youth and adults seeking refuge from urban areas.

Erdman took her infant daughter to be with her family in San Francisco, and later began an awesome odyssey of foreign and domestic travel that included, over the years, trips to Mexico, a two-car caravan across the United States, an excursion into Southeast Asia including stops in Hong Kong, Angkor Wat and Bangkok, and a flight to the island of Samaral, where her father had been stationed in World War II.

She introduced many Asian plants to Hawai'i, including the Singapore plumeria, and was a bird lover who raised many species of finches.

Her interest in her own Diamond Head garden, and in the flowers of the world, led her to the presidency of The Outdoor Circle, where she campaigned tirelessly against development of the upper slopes of Diamond Head and the loss of the view of Punchbowl to high-rise apartment buildings.

Her battle to save a famous old banyan at King and Ke'eaumoku streets was news for months.

The wealthy Republican matron inveighed against "the almighty dollar" that she said was desecrating the landscape and formed an unlikely but firm alliance with the dockworkers union to fight for Hawai'i's beauty.

She served on the city board of parks and recreation and was honored by the Garden Club of America with a merit award.

By 1989, when Erdman was 84, her home on Noela Drive was sold as newer millionaire investors began buying up the old Diamond Head estates.

She had lived in Oregon in recent years, near family in Salem, until her death Nov. 18.

Erdman is survived by her daughter, Louise Erdman Larsen of Salem; granddaughter, Jennifer Larsen Morrow; grandson, Nils Harold Larsen; and two great-granddaughters.