Anna Fanene, early phone operator, dead at 88

Advertiser Staff

Anna T. Fanene, one of the first operators with the old Mutual Telephone Co. in Hawai'i and a retired guide at the Polynesian Cultural Center, died March 2 in Kahuku. She was 88.

Fanene was born in Western Samoa on Oct. 8, 1913. She moved to Hawai'i at a young age and became an operator for Mutual Telephone, which would be renamed Hawaiian Telephone Co. in the 1950s.

Fanene was a master weaver and worked as a tour guide at the Polynesian Cultural Center for 15 years. In 1980, she was honored by the center for exemplifying the Polynesian culture.

She is survived by daughters Esther Keiki, Pola Wong, Cleo Akina, Verna Allison and Jan Corona; brother Alema Leota; 41 grandchildren; 79 great-grandchildren; and 25 great-great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the La'ie Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with services at 12:30 p.m.; burial to follow at La'ie Cemetery.