Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 5, 1 May 1989 — King St. Cemetery Society Formed [ARTICLE]

King St. Cemetery Society Formed

In response to a growing eoneem over the upkeep and preservation of old family burial sites, descendants of people buried in the King St. eemetery recently formed a "preservation society," whieh hopes to restore the historic site, in the heart of Honolulu, to its former beauty. The purpose of the society, whieh already has a membership of over 100 descendants, is to protect, preserve and maintain the site as a historic and sacred burial ground for the benefit of descendants and the community at-large. In accordance with this purpose the society has already organized several "elean-up" days, and will soon develop a plot map of individual burial sites. The cemetery, whieh is primarily maintained by the Catholic Diocese, has over 900 "marked" burials and as many as 100 "unmarked" plots. Most of those buried are of Hawaiian and Portuguese descent, including members of the Buckles, the Jarretts and the Sumner families. Several notable figures from Hawaiian history are among those buried at the site, such as Joseph Fern, the first mayor of Honolulu; John Ena, who was a member of the House of Nobles under King Kalakaua; and several former bishops of the Catholic Diocese, including Bishop Gulstan Ropert and Bishop Herman Koeekemann. If you have family buried in the King St. eemetery, or if you would like to help support the preservation effort in any way, please eall Carolyn Carpio (699-2281) or Keahi Allen (536-6540) for more information.