“The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness and valour, because historically it has been regarded as the “king of beasts”. Lion refers also to a Judeo-Christian symbolism. The Lion of Judah stands in the coat of arms of Jerusalem.” [Wikipedia]

 

THE BLAKE `OHANA is the closest we have to a nobility in Koloa!

Judge Henry Hartwell Kawahinehelelani Blake (1874 – 1948 ), who was appointed Magistrate for the District of Koloa in 1932, and Margaret Miller Blake (1882 – 1960), who taught at Koloa School from 1900 to 1948, a total of 48 years, raised three sons and three daughters.

The house that the Blakes built for their family circa 1908 on Waikomo Road is home to Blake descendants today, a lasting reminder of a family that has served Koloa with commitment and dedication for more than a century.

The dictionary defines magistrate as “a civil officer or lay judge who administers the law, especially one who conducts a court that deals with minor offenses and holds preliminary hearings for more serious ones.”  Judge Blake was an Alii of Kaumualii Chapter No. 3, Order of Kamehameha.

Starting with Margaret Blake, two generations of Blake educators touched the lives of generations of Koloa children —  as well as Lihue and Anahola children — guided them in their educational pursuits, and helped mold them into upright and contributing members of the community.

The eldest daughter, Eleanor Blake Anderson (1905 – 1991), taught at her alma mater, Koloa School, from 1929 to circa 1970.  Many of her eighth-grade students still remember her today.

The youngest Blake daughter, Juliette Blake Wong (1908 – 1997), was also inspired by her mother, who was her third grade teacher, to go into teaching.  She was the principal of Koloa School from 1946 to1963.

 

KOLOA SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO TAUGHT AT THEIR ALMA MATER

In addition to inspiring her daughters to become teachers, Margaret Miller Blake inspired Koloa School students to become teachers and taught at Koloa School.  Among them were Rebecca Brandt Maxey (1903 -1989), Elizabeth Brandt Schimelfinnig, Edene Naleimaile Vidinha (1905 – 1988), who taught from 1927 to 1964, a total of 37 years, teaching 6th graders at the time of her retirement; David Takeo Isoda (1906 – 1992), who taught gardening and woodworking; and Toshiko Sueoka Mizuha (1909 -2012).

 

ALL IN THE FAMILY

The Blakes’ son, Hartwell Norwin Kawahinehelelani Blake (1916 – 1996), was also an educator.  He taught at many schools on and off island.  For example, he taught gardening to 7th and 8th graders at Lihue Grammar School in the mid-1950s.  He was principal at Anahola School (1886 – 1966) in 1963.

In 1964, Hartwell Blake was elected to the Board of Supervisors and served as chairman and chief executive of the County of Kaua`i and Ni`ihau for two years. That was before Mayor was adopted as the title of the county’s chief executive officer.  With that said, Hartwell Blake’s service went beyond the bounds of classrooms and schools.

Like him, Hartwell’s wife, Grace Lau Blake (1918 -2001), born in Honolulu to Chinese parents, was a schoolteacher.

On a personal note, Catherine Lo’s youngest sister, Eleanor Ibia, of San Jose, CA, who retired after 37 years of teaching, was in the 8^th grade at Lihu`e Grammar School in 1958. Grace Blake was the substitute teacher for Mrs. Yamaguchi, who went on maternity leave. Mrs. Blake taught all of the subjects since all the grades were in self-contained classrooms.   The last hour of the day was arts and crafts, and in April of that impactful school year, Mrs. Blake taught the class how to make corsages that the children would give to their mothers for Mother’s Day. Some of the boys needed help to make the base, which meant cutting tulle materials, putting a corsage wire to hold the tulle, then covering the wires with the corsage tapes.  Eleanor related, “Since I could do it fast, I helped many of my classmates, and got Mrs. Blake’s trust in me to be her assistant.”

“I selected three gardenia flowers to make a corsage for Mom. Mrs. Blake showed me how to split the gardenia in half and add a smaller gardenia in the middle to make it look like a camellia blossom and to lay flat on the tulle for the corsage. To this day, when I do gardenia corsages, I split the gardenia and add another one inside.”

The legacy of random acts of kindness lives on, as in the story I am sharing with you about Grace Blake.

“I really liked her since she was very kind to all of the students in our class,” Eleanor recalled in an email.

“She opened the classroom door with a warm smile to let the class in. She acknowledged students when they did well. She took the time to explain lessons we were having problems with, especially to those of us to whom English was a second language.  The three to four months with Mrs. Blake as my teacher boosted my self-confidence when I discovered that I was capable of learning, and the use of hands-on techniques in teaching skills in subject matters stayed with me.  Mrs. Blake used corsage making to teach us how to listen, follow instructions; then she checked if we understood by following all the necessary steps. As a 13-year-old, I don’t think I would have learned how to make corsages reading the instructions in a book.”

Eleanor continued, “After our 8th grade graduation, I never saw Mrs. Blake again until I came back to Kaua`i in 1965 to teach at Kapa`a Elementary School.  One of the favorite long-term substitute teachers when teachers went on leave, she attended some of the teachers’-in-service workshops required by the district office.

“When I transferred to Wilcox  Elementary School for the ’67-’68 school year, she was a long-term substitute teacher for one of the grades. We had coffee breaks together, and we visited before faculty meetings.  We often reminisced on lifelong-skill in corsage-making she taught me in 8th grade, a skill that I used for church functions while in high school, for special occasions during college years, and as a teacher for many years.

“Grace Blake offered to make my wedding bouquet and Mom’s corsage when she learned I was getting married in July 1968.  And, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Hartwell Blake were invited and attended the wedding at Lihu`e Lutheran Church.”

A photograph of Grace Blake pinning a corsage on the bride’s mother, Maxine Pascual,  is a precious memento, preserved in the Pascual Family photo collection.  Shortly after Eleanor married Raymond Ibia, the young couple moved to California, and Eleanor taught with the San Jose Unified School District for 34 years.  She retired from teaching in 2002.

Grace Blake was active in many civic associations and served as officer and board member of several organizations. Well-named and full of grace, Grace Blake blessed many with her friendship and aloha.

Hartwell and Grace Blake’s son, Hartwell Henry Kalaniohawaii (Hanalei) Blake (1944 – 1917), served as Kauai County attorney during Maryanne Kusaka’s tenure as mayor from December 1994 to December 2, 2002.  He received a Juris Doctor degree from Willamette University in Oregon in 1973.  He subsequently served as Assistant Attorney General of Idaho from 1973 to 1974, and was a Deputy Public Defender in the Sixth Judicial District of Idaho from 1974 to 1980.

Hanalei Blake was admitted to the bar in Idaho in 1973, and in Hawaii in 1978.

Hanalei was a First Lieutenant in the U. S. Army and served in the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1969.  He finished his studies in business administration at UH-Manoa in 1970. Active in community affairs, he was an active member of Koloa Community Association. He served on various Kauai boards and commissions.

Last but not least, Hartwell and Grace’s son, Ted Kawahinehelelani Blake, who served on the Koloa Plantation Sesquicentennial Celebration Committee in 1985 that founded Koloa Plantation Days, continues to give back to the community and carry on his parents’ legacy of service and aloha.  He was instrumental in bringing to Koloa the Royal Hawaiian Band, with Aaron David Mahi as Bandmaster, for the Sugar Sesquicentennial Celebration on July 27, 1985, in conjunction with the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of Koloa Plantation.

Ted Blake is a director of Hui Malama o Koloa, a non-profit whose mission is the preservation, protection, and perpetuation of Hawaii’s natural resources, including the maintenance and preservation of Hapa Trail, which once provided a path from Koloa Town to Poipu.  Moreover, Ted serves on the County of Kauai’s Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission, which is part of the Planning Department.

— OO — 

Sources:

“Hapa Trail.” [Pamphlet]  Koloa:  Malama Koloa, 2016?

“Koloa School: 1877 to 1977:  Kauai’s First Public School.” [Booklet]  Koloa:  Koloa School, 1977.

Lo, Catherine.  The Garden Island Index, 1971- 1980.  Lihue:  Kauai Library Association, 1987.

Lo, Catherine Pascual.  The Filipinos of Koloa.  Part II:  Remembering New Mill Camp.  Koloa:  K & C Co., 2014, 2017.

Newton, L. C., Editor. Who’s Who in the Counties of Kauai and Maui T. H., 1939. Wailuku: Printed by Maui Publishing Co., Ltd. , 1940.

“On Wings of Discovery: Kauai District Public Schools — Mana to Haena.  150th Anniversary of Public Education in Hawaii.”  [Booklet]. Lihue:  Kauai District, Dept. of Education, State of Hawaii, April 1991.

Siddall, John William, Editor.  Men of Hawaii, Volume I.  Honolulu: Published by Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Ltd., 1917.

The Garden Island. “Obituaries.” Sunday, April 30, 2017.

United States Census.  1940.

www.ancestry.com

www.findagrave.com.

www.law.cornell.edu (Legal Information Institute)

Wikipedia.  Mayor of Kauai.  9/22/2017.

© 2018.  COPYRIGHT Catherine Pascual Lo