Annie 'Ann' Aki Ka, 78, Big Island entrepreneur
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Annie "Ann" Aki Ka of Kailua, Kona, was supposed to have retired 10 years ago. Instead, she started another business.
Ka, also known as "Taxi Annie" from her days in the taxi business, died Aug. 12 at the age of 78. She will be remembered at her funeral Saturday as an entrepreneur with a generous spirit and a drive that propelled her late in life.
"She was always on the move," said her son Harry Kaumuali'i Ka of Long Beach, Calif.
At the age of 68, after owning and running a handful of West Hawai'i florist shops, Ka launched Annie Ka's Leis, a wholesale company that supplied lei to Big Island hotels. Earlier in her life, she performed hula professionally with her late husband's band, the Joe Ka Hawaiian Orchestra, and worked as a bartender for years at the old Kona Inn Hotel.
She spent many years in the taxi business, owning the Triple K taxi service and Jack's Rent-a-Car and Taxis, and managing Jack's Tours and Taxi service. Ka also operated her own bicycle rental business.
"My mom was an entrepreneur. She really was active," said daughter Annie Leong of Kailua.
Leong said Ka was more than a good businesswoman. She was a generous person who was known to take in lost souls and children who needed a home. "There was always someone in the house," Leong said.
Ka belonged to Ahahui Ka'ahumanu O Kona and was a member of the Lanakila Congregational Church board of trustees. Over the past three years, she was also an active member of Hauoli Kamana'o Congregational Church at Miloli'i.
Visitation will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Lanakila Congregational Church, with a service at 10 a.m. and burial of urn to follow in the church cemetery. The family requests casual attire and no flowers. Dodo Mortuary's Kona branch is handling the arrangements.
In addition to her son Harry, Ka is survived by her other sons, Joseph Kini Kahiona Ka Sr. and Jonathan Kee Kaleonahena-heokalani Ka; daughter Lorraine Puanani Ka Wahinekapu Sr.; brothers, Archie, Ernest and Walter Aki; sisters, Lillian Hose, Dolly Salas, Elizabeth Aki; 13 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Reach Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
