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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 2:01 a.m., Sunday, May 6, 2007

A massive beach party at end of era

By Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Thousands of people crowded the Waikiki shoreline yesterday to create a final, warm sendoff worthy of Don Ho, and say goodbye to a man they knew as entertainer, Hawai'i ambassador and timeless icon.

Amid the throngs, there were diehard fans and quiet admirers, people who respected Ho for his music and those who wanted to honor him for his legacy. Some knew Ho well, others had only seen his face on an album cover and heard his music on the radio.

"I'm going to start crying," Laura Hoffman said as she sat under a palm tree about 2 p.m., waiting for the memorial to begin. "He just represented so much that was good."

Hoffman, who described herself as a devout soccer mom, skipped her 10-year-old son's game yesterday to attend the memorial. She got to the beach by 10 a.m.

Nearby, Tom and Cheryl Data sat grinning at each other in their beach chairs, recalling all their fond Ho memories.

"I got to kiss him once," Cheryl Data bragged, looking at her husband coyly. Data said she went to a Ho performance in Waikiki, and the entertainer pecked her on the cheek and gave her an autograph.

Tom Data topped her story.

As a boy, he said, he used to sit outside of Honey's bar in Kane'ohe with his friends and listen to a young Ho sing. "We would just sit on our bikes and listen," Data said, resting his head on his hand.

Though the public memorial services didn't start until 6 p.m., Queen's Surf Beach was already busy by early afternoon — the sun beating down on hundreds of people setting up beach chairs or towels in the sand.

Several said they had never before seen so many people at Queen's Surf Beach. To beat the crowds, some got to the service as early as 7 a.m.

Two of the early-risers were Leilani Naone and her husband, Charles, who was Ho's classmate at Kamehameha Schools. Leilani Naone said she has loved Ho since she was a young girl.

"It was very important for me to be here," she said, peering up from under a shade umbrella. "We felt it was the best way to say goodbye."

Victor and Gail DeFries, who are on vacation in Hawai'i from San Francisco, pushed back a side trip to Kaua'i to attend the service.

Victor DeFries, who grew up in Hawai'i, said he remembers Ho as someone who loved performing because of the joy it brought others.

"I have a lot of good memories of him," he said.

As people filled Queen's Surf, hundreds of others lined the beach all the way to the Sheraton Waikiki, where a private memorial was held and boats were launched to carry Ho's ashes to sea.

Kimo Kawela, of Kane'ohe, clapped as the outriggers left shore.

"I wrote my brother today and said Uncle Don was gone," Kawela said.

Gary and Kathy Nodine, of Maryland, didn't learn about Ho's death until they arrived in the Islands last week. They made it a point to attend the memorial to commemorate the end of an era.

"There's never going to be another Don Ho," Gary Nodine said.

By the time the public memorial program began, Queen's Surf was packed and buzzing, with people chatting, eating and laughing.

Sarah Ching, a 90-year-old Mo'ili'ili resident, was watching the spectacle with glee. Why did she like Ho? "He was always kissing all the ladies," she said, giggling.

Her daughter, Dorri Goodwin, of Pauoa Valley, smiled. "He gave so much to the people of Hawai'i," she said. "It's fitting they'd have it in Waikiki. He was almost like a landmark here."

The memorial service kicked off with the Royal Hawaiian Band, playing selections of Hawaiian music and famous Ho tunes.

There was a hint of solemnity in the air, but the gathering had much more of a party atmosphere, with people singing along, rocking their bodies, whistling and rising to applaud.

Crowds spilled out into the sidewalk, onto a wall along Queen's Surf Beach and across the street.

Sally Leong claimed her spot on the beach wall at 1 p.m.

She took the city bus in from Kapolei and had debated whether to bring her copy of Ho's first album.

She decided to leave it at home for safekeeping.

"He was something special," Leong said. "I'll never forget him."

Linda Mazik, visiting from California with her boyfriend, Wiley Craig, got to the beach just after noon and set up her beach chairs near the stage. She said it was important for her to mark the life and death of a legend. "It's an end of an era," she said, her voice falling.

As the sun set on Waikiki, people continued to arrive at the beach. Dozens more watched from hotel balconies.

Sitting on the concrete jetty at Queen's Surf Beach before the memorial, California resident Pat Nakahara snacked on arare and watched kids playing in the surf. She came to the memorial not as a longtime Ho fan, but as someone who wanted to help give Ho the sendoff he deserved, she said.

"He is probably the most recognizable man in the Islands," she said. "I thought, 'If they're having a party for him, I have to come.' "

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com or 754-8286.