Emily 'Honey' Ho, entertainer's mother, dead at 90

By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Staff Writer

Emily "Honey" Ho, mother of entertainer Don Ho, died last night at Castle Memorial Medical Center. She was 90.

Emily "Honey" Ho was the mother of entertainer Don Ho.

Don Ho began his entertainment career by singing behind the bar.

James and Honey Ho started the business before World War II, specializing in Hawaiian food and Honey's hamburgers. The family lived in two rooms in back. The boys slept in the garage.

Honey Ho became a legend from Waikiki to Las Vegas, dispensing sound advice to her son and mothering his show-business friends.

She grew up in Kaka'ako, picked kiawe beans to sell, worked in the pineapple cannery and sang in the Kawaiaha'o Choir. Courted by Jimmy Ho while she was underage, she obtained her mother's permission to marry and moved in with her husband's family.

Wartime profits from the restaurant permitted them to buy their first home and to send their son, Don, to Kamehameha Schools. Honey and James Ho had nine children. Services are pending.