LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Jennifer White gave her life trying to rescue her two sons in rough oceans at Anahola, said her husband, who yesterday mourned his wife and 9-year-old son, who both succumbed to the waves.

Jennifer White, 32, died yesterday at Wilcox Hospital. She had managed to rescue her 8-year-old son, Aaron, checked to see that someone was attending to him and her 4-year-old daughter, Kiley, and then plunged exhausted back into a rip current after her remaining son.

"In a matter of a short amount of time, the current swept them very quickly down the beach," her husband, Chris White, 35, said yesterday. "A (woman) was able to call for help, and then went after Jen. All she could tell us was that Jen was struggling to stay up."

Nine-year-old Tyler White disappeared from view in rough coastal surf and was still missing yesterday. Jennifer White was brought back to shore unconscious. Except for a time briefly on the beach, she remained unconscious until her death.

"It seemed like she came back for a moment to check if Aaron and Kiley were all right. Maybe at that point she went to be with Tyler, so he wouldn't be alone. That was the kind of thing she would do," Chris White said.

The White family is not alone in mourning a loved one swept away by the ocean on Saturday.

Fire Department divers yesterday spent the morning in rough waters at Kawailoa searching for any sign of John J. Dacuycuy, 17, a Kapa'a High School student who was caught in a rip current on that part of windward Kaua'i and then tumbled in surf before he disappeared.

KAPA'A BOY GONE

Classmates joined Dacuycuy's family in a vigil at the scene yesterday. At his school, dozens of grieving students met with school counselors, said vice principal Diane Ayre.

"He was a good student. He's a good kid," she said.

Yesterday afternoon, divers resumed their search at the Anahola Bay site where Tyler White remains missing. Neither was located and fire officials said the search is called off.

"If something should come up to indicate that we need to go back, we certainly will," said Kaua'i Fire Chief Robert Westerman.

WORKING VACATION

The tragedy ended a family's dream holiday in the Islands. Chris White, a light construction worker from Gunnison, Colo., had been asked by his brother Wally if he'd help with a home-building job near Anahola on Kaua'i. They decided it would be a working family vacation.

"Their trip to Kaua'i was kind of a neat family adventure," said Matt Nicholl, a pastor at New Song Church in Gunnison, which the Whites attended.

The brothers would work together and have a chance to catch up with each other, and Jennifer White, Tyler, Aaron and Kiley would go along and enjoy Hawai'i. Jennifer White was home-schooling the kids, so their education would not suffer.

"It was the first opportunity we'd had to do something like this — a fun, long, extended vacation," Chris White said.

They expected their stay to last from February through May.

The beach was a big part of the family's activities. They would swim at the Anahola site, in the calm waters around the foundations of the old Anahola pier. Sometimes the kids would take body boards and join the adults in the small surf nearby.

On Saturday, Jennifer White and the children went ahead. Her husband and his brother were on their way to the shore when they got a call from her cell phone: It was a rescue worker calling them with news of the tragedy.

Friends back in Gunnison were stunned as the word reached them.

"Chris and Jen were just a great family, a great part of our church," Nicholl said.

Jennifer White was active in the children's ministry both at home and in the community, he said.

"She was such a strong person. She laughed a lot. It was fun to be with her," said Annette Nicholl, the pastor's sister-in-law and a friend of the Whites.

"They were devout Christians. She gave her life for her boy's life, and that's her character."

TRAGEDY UNFOLDS

Chris White described what he believes happened about noon Saturday. He said his wife and Kiley were on the sand, and the boys were playing in shallow water. It was a windy day, and choppy waves were slapping at swimmers. What they did not realize was that the 25 mph trade wind was shoving water across the reef, and that water created a powerful rip current right in front of their favorite swimming spot.

"They'd been out in that spot before. Whatever came and swept them away was new. It wasn't there before," he said.

His wife must have seen that her boys were in danger.

"She got to Aaron first. She did what she could to get Aaron to safety," he said. "Aaron couldn't swim well. Tyler is a better swimmer, but he's not a strong swimmer. They usually went out on their Boogie Boards, but for some reason, this time they didn't have them."

A woman who lives nearby had come to the beach, saw what was happening and was yelling for help. Lifeguards said that either she or another beachgoer helped Jennifer White get Aaron out of the water.

With other adults nearby watching Aaron and Kiley, their mother threw herself back into the sea, where she was quickly caught in the same rip current that was pulling her son Tyler away.

Then Tyler apparently slipped under the water; witnesses said they could no longer see him. And his mother appeared to be having trouble swimming. A beachgoer swam out to help, but brought her to shore unconscious.

Chris White said witnesses saw her appear to regain consciousness briefly on the beach, and he believes it was a kind of extraordinary emotional resurfacing to make a final check on her surviving children.

"As far as being a loving mother and wife, she was everything possible," he said.

GRATEFUL FOR HELP

White is caring for those two surviving children, who he said are doing well, and is making plans to bring his wife's body home.

He said he and his family have been buoyed by the support they have received both locally and from Colorado. Friends were to arrive from Colorado last night to join them.

"I've got a lot of support coming and support calling. We just want to thank people," he said. "It's so overwhelming. All the rescue people, all the local people, everyone."

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.