"As a minister, she really means what she says," said Keli'i Chun, kahu for another congregation, Ka Makua Mauloa Church. "She's very religious, but when she hears the music, she'll just up and do her thing."

Recca was ninth of the 14 Bright children, all grandchildren of John Kekipimaia, who founded Ke Alaula church in 1853. It was established within a basic Calvinist tradition but as an independent Hawaiian Christian organization.

The future kahu did not take up her ministry until much later, said her son, Joe Recca. Lei Bright, with her sister Sybil, sang and danced with the Lei Collins troupe in Waikiki and later worked as a typist for the city's emergency services office.

Both her parents had been pastors of the church, Recca said, but it wasn't until she was well into midlife when she began having dreams of sitting in the church, looking up and seeing her mother pointing at her. She was ordained a minister in 1970 and became pastor in 1991.

The Bright family, native speakers of Hawaiian, was descended from one of the Kamehameha lines, Recca said. Pahukoa Morse, who was installed with Lei Recca into the Hawaiian benevolent society Hale O Na Ali'i a few years ago, described her friend as "a very gracious lady." Others agreed, emphasizing her ability to entwine faith with love of her culture.

Hawai'i songstress Auntie Genoa Keawe remembered the Brights from her own childhood, growing up across Kapi'olani Boulevard from the family home and church, and then watching them perform from time to time.

"That's what's wonderful about the Bright family," she said. "They believe in God. ... God is the one that helped them get to where they are."

She seemed to express her faith in a way that put people at ease, her son said. Recently summoned to a benediction at a construction site where bones had been unearthed, Kahu Recca consoled the worker who inadvertently had dug them up.

"He said, 'Will anything happen to me?' And she said, 'Everything is blessed, nothing bad will happen,' " Recca said. "There was such relief on his face.

"She meant that with all her heart," he added. "That comforting spirit drew people to her."

She also is survived by her husband, Salvatore; daughters Bettina M. Recca and Regina K. R. Young; seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Visitation is 9 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 19 at Ke Alaula Oka Malamalama Church, 910 Cooke St.; service to follow. No flowers.