Visits to Makua Beach by Katy Kok shortly after she moved to the Wai'anae Coast in 1986 spurred her and then-husband Hans Kok to start what today is the state's largest voluntary litter cleanup group.

"Here this beach was listed as one of the world's top 10, and the place was a trash heap," said Kok, co-founder and volunteer executive director of the nonprofit Nani 'O Wai'anae, in a 1997 Advertiser interview.

A service to celebrate her life has been set tentatively for around sunset on Sept. 6 at Makua Beach. Kok, 60, died Aug. 19 at her home of an apparent heart attack.

What started as a two-person weekend trash pickup project by the Koks today is an army of more than 2,000 volunteers dedicated to cleaning up and beautifying beaches and other natural areas across the state.

Katy Kok (pronounced "Cook") was at the heart of the organization, said Clyde Morita, the former administrator of the now-defunct state Litter Control Office.

When Kok complained to him about the abandoned vehicles, large appliances and other trash piling up along the beaches and back roads of the Wai'anae Coast, it was Morita who encouraged her and Hans to organize people in their community to combat the problem.

Quite a feat, he said, for a California transplant who had lived in Honolulu for only a year before moving into the tight-knit Wai'anae community.

"They'd just moved out there and didn't know many people," Morita said.

Nani 'O Wai'anae became the state's first certified affiliate of the national Keep America Beautiful organization.

After the litter control office was eliminated by state budget cuts in 1995, Nani 'O Wai'anae took on a bigger role coordinating volunteer cleanup efforts not just in other parts of O'ahu, but also other islands, said Morita, now with the state Department of Transportation.

Over the years, Nani 'O Wai'anae received numerous federal, state and city grants and sponsorships to help with its cleanup, beautification, recycling and educational awareness programs.

"Katy — she was always the driving force for Nani 'O Wai'anae," Morita said, noting that her Makaha home served as the de-facto headquarters for the group. "She's the one that everything evolved around. She just gave so much of her heart and soul to the community."

Hans Kok said his former wife was not focused on ferreting out who or what was at fault for the littering so much as she was on simply dealing with the problem.

She rallied volunteers first in Wai'anae, and then other parts of Hawai'i to help with the cleanups, Hans Kok said. She also convinced area businesses and government agencies to participate, persuading them to donate ice, cups, plastic bags and other materials essential for the cleanup, he said.

"Getting people involved, that's what her passion was," he said.

Hans Kok, who left Hawai'i seven years ago but returned from Holland in the wake of Katy's death, said he hopes that the work of Nani 'O Wai'anae will continue despite her absence.

"Her body is gone, but we hope her spirit will stay here in the Hawaiian Islands," he said. "We hope it continues; it was very important to Katy."

Mark Suiso, a board member of Nani 'O Wai'anae, said he and his colleagues are still in shock over her death. The board is expected to hold an emergency meeting soon.

"We're going to need some help getting people to help fill the shoes," Suiso said. He urged those interested to call Nani 'O Wai'anae at 696-1920.

Nani 'O Wai'anae is not Katy Kok's only legacy. By vocation, Kok was a drug-abuse counselor, and she started the New Horizons program on O'ahu. From about 1995 to 2001, Hans and Katy Kok also ran the West Coast Chronicle, a community newspaper with a free circulation of about 16,000.

Besides former husband Hans Kok, she is survived by her sister, Lori Gossard.