A native of the Visayan Islands, Catalino Colorje Cortezan (1893 – 1973) came to Hawaii in 1913 at age 18.  In due course, the Hawaii Board of Missions sent him to California to train for the ministry.  As fate would have it, he returned to Hawaii in 1921 and was assigned to Waipahu to give pastoral care to the Filipinos in the community.

Josefina Abaya Cortezan (1896 – 1991), a nurse from Canton, Ilocos Sur, arrived in Hawaii in January 1921 to work at `Ewa Plantation.  At the reception to welcome three nurses, one of whom was Josefina, Pastor Cortezan and Josefina met.  They got married in October of that year.

In 1922, the Congregational Church sent the Reverend Cortezan to Koloa to minister among the Filipinos.

In January 1923, Josefina joined Pastor Cortezan at Koloa, where they made their home and raised their three daughters and one son.

Catalino and Josefina Cortezan were most certainly the most prominent Filipinos in Koloa and Kaua`i.  They came to serve.  They stayed to serve.  Their service to the Island of Kauai is legendary.  They had served a combined total of more than a century at the time Koloa Plantation celebrated 150 years of history in July 1985.

Josefina wore many hats as a pastor’s wife, a nurse, a midwife, an interpreter, and a mother of four.   She was named Hawaii Mother of the Year in 1954.

Koloa Union Church is the home church of the Cortezan-Duvauchelle `Ohana.  Several supply pastors served from 1954 to 1957, and also in 1961.  Pastor Cortezan was one of the supply pastors during those years.

Josephine Cortezan Duvauchelle, the eldest daughter of the Cortezans, who was born in 1927, followed in her mother’s footsteps and became a nurse.  She was a public health nurse before she joined the faculty of Kaua`i Community College in the early 1970s, and played an important role in setting up the nursing program at the college.  She retired as director of Kaua`i CC’s nursing program.

Some 30 years ago, before she retired, Josephine Duvauchelle established the Josefina Cortezan Nursing Scholarship in honor of her mother.  Today, two deserving students who plan to continue their nursing education at higher institutions of learning are awarded annually at Kauai CC’s commencement.  This is an example of a family legacy that is perpetuated for the sake of community service.

Furthermore, the husband of Josephine, Raymond Pihaleo Duvauchelle (1928 – 2012), was a career officer in the Kaua`i Department of Police.  Born in `Ele`ele of part-Hawaiian ancestry, he attended Kamehameha Schools and graduated in 1946.  Captain Duvauchelle was appointed deputy chief of police in January 1971. He served as acting chief of police in March 1972 following the resignation of Police Chief Dewey Allen (1927 – 2014), and again in May 1975 during the absence of Roy Hiram (1932 – 2008), Kaua`i Chief of Police from 1972 to 1986.

In August 1982, Deputy Police Chief Duvauchelle resigned to run for a seat in the Kaua`i County Council.  He won and was elected chairman of the council.  That was the year Tony Kunimura ran for mayor and won.   That made one son of Koloa as head of the executive branch of Kaua`i County and another son as head of the legislative branch.  Kudos to Koloa, the town Koloa Plantation built!

Last but not least, Douglas A. Duvauchelle, son of Josephine and Raymond Duvauchelle, a 1990 graduate of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, is a practicing physician on Kaua`i, who is continuing the legacy of service and aloha of his grandparents and parents.

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Sources:

Cash, Sydal.  “Josefina Cortezan … A Life of Service to Others.”  The Garden island.. 02/06/1974. Section C, p.3.

“Koloa Union Church:  Celebrating 173 Years of Service.” History Committee: Josephine Duvauchelle, Kahu Nani Hill, Chito Isonaga, Toyokazu Nishida, Penny Osuga, Kiyoko Sako, Catherine Lo, text & format.  Photos:  Church File & Karl Lo. [12-page pamphlet].  Koloa: The Church, October 2008.

__________.  [Two-fold brochure].  Koloa:  The Church, October 2008.

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

Lo, Catherine Pascual.  The Filipinos of Koloa.  Koloa:  K & C Co, 2017.

Miyake, Michael.  “A Profile of Kauai [Column]. — The Cortezans:  Devoted Guardians of Truth.”  The Garden Island.  07/05/1971, p.2, portrait.

O’Leary, Becky.  “Wahine `o Kauai [Column] — Josefina Cortezan.” The Garden Island.  12/28/1977, Section B, p.2.

Other Articles in The Garden Island in alphabetical order by title:

“Josefina Cortezan Given Award for Public Service.”  12/12/1980, p.1.

“Koloa Girl Now registered Nurse in Cincinnati.”  06/27/1951, Section III, p.2.

“Miss Cortezan Heads ’51 Class at Cincinnati.”  10/10/1950, Section I, p.6.

“Year’s Top Senior Citizens Honored Sunday.”  [Cortezan & Wedemeyer]. 05/03/1971, p.12.

Online Sources:

Honolulu Star-Bulletin.com

Honolulu Star-Bulletin on www.newspaper.com

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© 2018.  COPYRIGHT Catherine Pascual Lo