Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 4, 1 April 1985 — In Memoriam [ARTICLE]

In Memoriam

Pilahi Paki Silva, believed to be the last direct descendant of the Paki line, reached out and made a great impact on Hawaiians as a philosopher, educator and advocate of Hawaiian language and culture. So observes Kawaipuna Prejean who worked closely with Pilahi over the last 11 years. Prejean delivered the eulogy recently at services for Pilahi who died Feb. 4 at age 74. Her goal was to unite Hawai'i with Aloha, Prejean observed. "She was committed to peaceful resolutions of problems and she imbedded these thoughts in a lot of influential people, including many top Hawaiian entertainers," he added. "She was a warm, compassionate and intelligent person who put people's welfare before her own. She had an uncanny ability to communicate with people from all walks of life," Prejean went on. Pilahi and Prejean were among those instrumental in developing United Hawaii Aloha (UHA), based on her eoneem to have people speak their minds. She urged Hawaiians to speak out whether they were right or wrong, objective or negative. Pilahi also had a great eoneem for the Hawaiian language and she encouraged Hawaiians to speak it every ehanee they got.