Doug, the Postmaster at Keauhou Post Office, looked at my postmark book. Like some of the other postal people, he was humored. Or maybe surprised. He disappeared for a few seconds and returned with an amazing relic: a letter dated April 7 of 1942. The postmark, Honolulu, also had the time of day, 3 p.m. Wow? Wow.
He had picked the letter up in Honolulu some time ago. The envelope is handwritten, the letter is typed, asking if a Miss Mac Guire (MacGuire?) had responded and informed a Miss Florence L. Kaapana about her decision regarding a dance. Yeah. A letter about a dance, about invitations. How formal. The dance was at Fort Shafter or the Colonial Hotel.
The more I read the letter, the more the details stick. I googled Florence L. Kaapana and found a birth year of 1915, and this Florence passed away in the 2000s. Bummers. But a friend of mine, Coach Bo Kekahuna, said he is related to the Kaapana ohana. YES.
Another friend, Vert Yoshida, noted that a MacGuire family owned (owns?) Huehue Ranch on the Big Island. Maybe the same family. Maybe not. But hopefully, over time, enough clues will accumulate and we'll find out who these women were.
Imagine, 1942, at the heart of WWII, fear rampant across the islands. My mom told us many times how much she hated the war, how she and her friends at the dormitory at the Territorial School for the Deaf and Blind were stuck, banned from going to the beach. Lights out early in the evening. Her eyes went bad, mom said, because they couldn't use regular lights after sundown. She couldn't wait to graduate and get a job.
And yet, in '42, young women were going to dances and partying. I really hope they did. Miss MacGuire and Miss Kaapana, I hope you danced.
UPDATE, June 25, 2019
Between a more successful Google search by this pupule, and largely (99%) thanks to the crafty digging by our Mad Librarian, Jerry Campany, we have cobbled this together about the awesome Florence L. Kaapana.
>> She grew up in Honuapo, near Naalehu, on the Big Island.
>> She moved to Honolulu and later became a truck company owner.
>> She married at 26, in the same year as the letter.
>> She passed away in 2003, age 86, a decade after Frank passed.
>> Two sons, two daughters, a step-son, 14 grandchildren, four great-granchildren.
>> She had nine siblings, the last of whom passed away in 2014.
Florence Kaapana's online memorial
I wish I could've asked one of them about the letter. The dance. Did Florence meet Frank there at the Colonial Hotel? Maybe. Maybe not.
Jerry dug for this. Dec. 26, 1942.
I admit, when I saw this article from Jerry, I got CHICKEN SKIN instantly. How... wow!
So the Florence Kaapana-David Gowans matrimony was her first marriage, it appears. Later, she married a fellow named Frank Leon Washburn. But let's rewind back to the letter and April 1942. I theorized that Florence was working at Fort Shafter, coordinating events and activities for the community.
Jerry: "Yes, Florence worked at the department of recreation at Fort Shafter and put on dances or house parties every month, the letter was probably one of many pleas to pretty girls to bring the chicks."
Rewind a bit more. Florence in 1941. She was 24 or 25. Another gem discovered by Jerry. It's a photo from the Margaret Dietz Commercial School yearbook. After graduating, she became a clerk at Fort Shafter.
To which I say, she definitely was. And she was busy. Here is a big article Jerry found about May Day in '42. The performance was directed by Florence!
Jerry found another photo of Florence. This one is after she married.
This details her job at Fort Shafter. Busy lady.
Where exactly was the Colonial Hotel? Jerry found this.
At the time of her engagement to David Gowans, Florence lived roughly a block or two away from the Colonial. This would indicate that though Florence worked one job (as far as we know) by day at Fort Shafter, once a week or month she was overseeing the dances at the Colonial. Part of the job. She was probably all over town overseeing activities.
Today, 1447 Pensacola St., and 1547, where Florence lived (see below), are both two-story residentials. But at the time it opened in 1926, the Colonial Hotel was a big deal. Think low-rise, big rooms in cottages, swimming pool. All part of a renovated, luxury home.
There were also house parties arranged by Florence.
Sadly, the Colonial Hotel was put up for auction in 1944.
Young love did not last. By Nov. 8, Marjorie married John Joseph Krakawski.
More amazing digging by Jerry. Don't feel sorry for Roy. He had already remarried. In California.
Young hearts. A deadly war in play. Wow.
Jerry: "Yep, my creative imagination tells me that Macguire met Anders at the April dance and it went so well that they got engaged. Then Anders got orders back to Calif. and left Macguire at the altar. Anders was quite a hound, though, and by June he married a California girl. Don't cry for Macguire, she was married to a different soldier by November. The world was ending, after all."
So, as for 12:40 p.m. on this Tuesday, June 25, 2019, this is all we have. There are still plenty of pukas, but the young lives of these two women were quite busy. One a bit more dramatic than the other.
If and when Jerry finds more photos and stories in the vault, we will post them here.
Back to Florence. The move to the big city. My uncle, aunties and mother all made the move from Kula, Maui, to Honolulu. My mom often spoke about the ferry ride to attend school, but I don't know if they flew here by the 1950s, when my aunties — her younger sisters — graduated from high school and moved to Honolulu.
Here's my thread with Vert.
Me: "I still wonder what it was like for Florence moving from Honuapo to Honolulu. I had relatives moving from Kula to Honolulu in the 1930s, '40s and '50s."
Vert: "Well, that must have been a entire day's journey to either get to Kona to hop on a DC 3 or she went by ship out of Ka‘u (with a bento, dry fish and poi or musubi and Vienna sausage ). Wish we could take a peek."
Me: "How much you like bet she and her fiance rode together to Honolulu? Or did they meet for the first time in HNL? Maybe I don't need to know what happened to their marriage, but I want to know. Did he survive the war?"
A few hours after the first dig, Jerry went back to the vault and dug some more. Let's just say Florence and my own mother, Hideko Ruth, had something in common. Each conceived a second child from another man, then remarried within two months. From all indications, Florence and Frank stayed together until his passing in 1993. My mom wasn't so fortunate. She and my father divorced less than two years later.
This is where it gets quite somber. Jerry felt like he was borderline intruding even though all of this is a matter of public record. I agreed with him. So did Vert. But the way I felt was about my own projection, my family's experience.
Florence meets Frank at a Founders Day Dance. Yes, Florence knows a good dance when she sees it.
February 1951.
Margaret is 8 or 9 at this time. A few months later, Florence is hapai with her second child. And when Florence and David Gowans split up in 1951, the soap-opera scenario felt familiar for me.
May, 1951.
A line in the newspaper under a headline like this, how could anyone know the web of complexity that led to a formal breakup. The end of eternal matrimony. It is so complicated. Jarring. We don't know what led to it, but we know the final chapters of this marriage.
My mom used to say of her first marriage, 17 years, that after my sister was born, she wanted more children. He didn't. Was there more to it than that? I don't know. But by the end, there wasn't much to hold on to. She was 39 when I was born. 39 in those days was ancient. But she wanted me. Enough to break the rules? I don't even know if she was divorced from husband No. 1 by then. She was moving on and so, apparently, was Florence.
Here's the public announcement of Florence and Frank's marriage.
July 1951.
They had five children together. FIVE! My mom was one of nine children back in the 1920s to '40s. But by the '50s and '60s, families were smaller. Five was about right for that era, and pretty stunning for this generation.
My mother and father (George) married in May of 1965. I was born in August. Until I did a family tree assignment during college, I had no idea. I barely knew George, so I had no interest otherwise. But I did the quick math and realized, he probably married mom only because she was carrying me. He had been a life-long bachelor (as far as I know) and was 49.
I'd give a lot to talk with Florence in 1951. And David in 1951, too. David didn't wait around long. He, too, remarried in '51. He had relocated to the Big Island, working in Hakalau, which is north of Hilo.
September 1951.
That's right. David Gowans was a yacht guy. He must've had a few beautiful boats. They settled at the time in Hakalau.
1952. Frank and Florence at a ball. A lot of paparazzi back then.
Jerry:
"To recap the drama:
Feb 1951: Washburn and Florence are in the same dance club
April or May 1951: Wasburn and Florence conceive a son, who is born Dec. 24.
May 1951, Gowans and Florence divorce
July 1951: Florence marries Washburn
Sept. 1951: Gowans marries Charlotte Trujillo
May 1965: All is well."
I just realized that Florence and Frank's son was premature, seven or eight months at birth, if this timeline is correct. He is born on Dec. 24, while Florence's first wedding was on Dec. 24 (of 1942). Frank's previous home was on Kamoku Street, near ‘Iolani and (now) Ala Wai Schools. After they wed, Florence and Frank lived on Menehune Lane a few blocks from Kamoku, down Date Street near what is now Kaimuki High School.
Margaret graduated from Punahou in 1960. She marries Michael Cockett on April 1, 1965. Among the ushers are her step-father, Frank. Her father, David, was one of the guests at the reception held in Frank and Florence's home.
This is a respite. A sigh of relief. I'm happy for Margaret. In the back of my mind, she is a bit like my sister, who endured not one, not two, but all three of our mother's divorces. A happy ending for Margaret. That's all I want.
But Jerry keeps digging. He's good at this. The Mad Librarian breaks the bad news.
Jerry: "Um, I hate to tell you this, Honda, but ... Michael Cockett (yes, the same one) married Donna Lee Gomes on July 7, 1973. Margaret Cockett (gotta be the same one) married Llewellyn K Wailehua in July 26, 1973."
If and when Jerry finds more photos and stories in the vault, we will post them here.
Back to Florence. The move to the big city. My uncle, aunties and mother all made the move from Kula, Maui, to Honolulu. My mom often spoke about the ferry ride to attend school, but I don't know if they flew here by the 1950s, when my aunties — her younger sisters — graduated from high school and moved to Honolulu.
Here's my thread with Vert.
Me: "I still wonder what it was like for Florence moving from Honuapo to Honolulu. I had relatives moving from Kula to Honolulu in the 1930s, '40s and '50s."
Vert: "Well, that must have been a entire day's journey to either get to Kona to hop on a DC 3 or she went by ship out of Ka‘u (with a bento, dry fish and poi or musubi and Vienna sausage ). Wish we could take a peek."
Me: "How much you like bet she and her fiance rode together to Honolulu? Or did they meet for the first time in HNL? Maybe I don't need to know what happened to their marriage, but I want to know. Did he survive the war?"
A few hours after the first dig, Jerry went back to the vault and dug some more. Let's just say Florence and my own mother, Hideko Ruth, had something in common. Each conceived a second child from another man, then remarried within two months. From all indications, Florence and Frank stayed together until his passing in 1993. My mom wasn't so fortunate. She and my father divorced less than two years later.
This is where it gets quite somber. Jerry felt like he was borderline intruding even though all of this is a matter of public record. I agreed with him. So did Vert. But the way I felt was about my own projection, my family's experience.
Florence meets Frank at a Founders Day Dance. Yes, Florence knows a good dance when she sees it.
February 1951.
Margaret is 8 or 9 at this time. A few months later, Florence is hapai with her second child. And when Florence and David Gowans split up in 1951, the soap-opera scenario felt familiar for me.
May, 1951.
A line in the newspaper under a headline like this, how could anyone know the web of complexity that led to a formal breakup. The end of eternal matrimony. It is so complicated. Jarring. We don't know what led to it, but we know the final chapters of this marriage.
My mom used to say of her first marriage, 17 years, that after my sister was born, she wanted more children. He didn't. Was there more to it than that? I don't know. But by the end, there wasn't much to hold on to. She was 39 when I was born. 39 in those days was ancient. But she wanted me. Enough to break the rules? I don't even know if she was divorced from husband No. 1 by then. She was moving on and so, apparently, was Florence.
Here's the public announcement of Florence and Frank's marriage.
July 1951.
They had five children together. FIVE! My mom was one of nine children back in the 1920s to '40s. But by the '50s and '60s, families were smaller. Five was about right for that era, and pretty stunning for this generation.
My mother and father (George) married in May of 1965. I was born in August. Until I did a family tree assignment during college, I had no idea. I barely knew George, so I had no interest otherwise. But I did the quick math and realized, he probably married mom only because she was carrying me. He had been a life-long bachelor (as far as I know) and was 49.
I'd give a lot to talk with Florence in 1951. And David in 1951, too. David didn't wait around long. He, too, remarried in '51. He had relocated to the Big Island, working in Hakalau, which is north of Hilo.
September 1951.
That's right. David Gowans was a yacht guy. He must've had a few beautiful boats. They settled at the time in Hakalau.
1952. Frank and Florence at a ball. A lot of paparazzi back then.
Jerry:
"To recap the drama:
Feb 1951: Washburn and Florence are in the same dance club
April or May 1951: Wasburn and Florence conceive a son, who is born Dec. 24.
May 1951, Gowans and Florence divorce
July 1951: Florence marries Washburn
Sept. 1951: Gowans marries Charlotte Trujillo
May 1965: All is well."
I just realized that Florence and Frank's son was premature, seven or eight months at birth, if this timeline is correct. He is born on Dec. 24, while Florence's first wedding was on Dec. 24 (of 1942). Frank's previous home was on Kamoku Street, near ‘Iolani and (now) Ala Wai Schools. After they wed, Florence and Frank lived on Menehune Lane a few blocks from Kamoku, down Date Street near what is now Kaimuki High School.
Margaret graduated from Punahou in 1960. She marries Michael Cockett on April 1, 1965. Among the ushers are her step-father, Frank. Her father, David, was one of the guests at the reception held in Frank and Florence's home.
This is a respite. A sigh of relief. I'm happy for Margaret. In the back of my mind, she is a bit like my sister, who endured not one, not two, but all three of our mother's divorces. A happy ending for Margaret. That's all I want.
But Jerry keeps digging. He's good at this. The Mad Librarian breaks the bad news.
Jerry: "Um, I hate to tell you this, Honda, but ... Michael Cockett (yes, the same one) married Donna Lee Gomes on July 7, 1973. Margaret Cockett (gotta be the same one) married Llewellyn K Wailehua in July 26, 1973."
YOU. GOTTA. BE. KIDDING. ME.
OK, part of me is relieved that Margaret remarried. No indication when she and Michael divorced, but my mom divorced my dad in '66 or '67. Remarried in '70. Split up with husband No. 3 a year or so later. I remember that craziness (in '70) too well. Marriage is the wellspring of a healthy source. No comment on the aftermath...
But get this. Margaret and Llewellyn have five children together. FIVE. Just like Florence.
Donna Lee Gomes, Jerry notes, is a former Ms. Teenage Honolulu (1962). They were still together as of 2014.
Jerry: "Margaret and Llewellyn made it until the former football star died in 1997."
Jerry: "Margaret and Llewellyn made it until the former football star died in 1997."
This just about kills me. Margaret had 24 years of marriage, and Llewelyn dies young, just 57.
Florence passed away in 2003. If Margaret is still alive, she'd be 77 or so today.
So many smiling faces among us today, but nobody wants to talk about, or hear about the pain. The loneliness. I'm grateful for Margaret. She doesn't know me. Probably wouldn't want to. But she found some happiness, I'm guessing. A lot of happiness. So did Florence.
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