Queen Victoria’s Profile on Mt. Haupu at Kipu, Kauai, Hawaii.

September 7, 2006.  Karl H. Y. Lo Photo.

Mt. Haupu range, also known as Hoary Head, stretches from the East at Nawiliwili to the West at Knudsen Gap near the Tree Tunnel.  The photograph above is a part of the range whose lower slope features Queen Victoria’s Profile in a reclining position, with her toes and a finger — close to her neck — pointing toward Nawiliwili.  On the other side of the range is Mahaulepu.  The 1913 Koloa Mill and New Mill Camp were nestled at the base of the range.

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Of the nine mayors of the County of Kaua`i and Ni`ihau elected to office from 1969 to 2018, three called Koloa “home.”

The first was Antone (Kona) Vidinha (1902 – 1976), who graduated from Koloa School in 1917.  He was born to a second-generation Portuguese father, Antone Vidinha Sr., who was born in Mana, and to a Hawaiian mother, Alohakeau Hale, who was born in Ni`ihau and grew up in Mana.  Antone Vidinha Sr. was a police officer who became sheriff of Koloa. His son, Kona, followed in his father’s footsteps and rose to the rank of captain in the Kaua`i Police Department.  He later ran for a seat on the Kaua`i Board of Supervisors and served one term as chairman of the board, the chief executive officer of Kaua`i, from 1967-1968.  He subsequently ran for mayor, and he was elected the first mayor of the County of Kaua`i in 1969, and was re-elected in 1971, thus serving two two-year terms as mayor.

Lihu`e Stadium, dedicated in September 1972, was renamed Vidinha Stadium in honor of Mayor Vidinha a few months after his death in 1976. 

Mayor Vidinha’s wife, Edene Naleimaile Vidinha (1905 – 1988), also a graduate of Koloa School, taught at her alma mater from 1927 to 1964, a total of 37 years.  At the time of the mayor’s death, their fortune was estimated at 10 million.  The Antone & Edene Vidinha Charitable Trust was established in March 1979 to financially assist Kauai’s non-profit organizations and to provide scholarships to college students.  The Vidinhas’ generosity continues today, and deserving students of Kaua`i Community College are blessed beneficiaries.

Second was Tony T. Kunimura (1923 – 1995), who grew up at Japanese Mill Camp. He was Mayor of the County of Kaua`i and Ni`ihau from 1982 to 1988.  With that said, he was mayor when the town of Koloa, the island of Kaua`i, and the state of Hawai`i celebrated the 150^th anniversary of the founding of Koloa Plantation in July 1985. 

Tony Kunimura drove the Chang school bus from Koloa to Kaua`i High School until he entered politics in 1954, when he was elected to the Kaua`i Board of Supervisors, where he served for eight years. He was subsequently elected to the Hawai`i State House of Representatives, where he served for 20 years.  As Kaua`i’s representative, he secured substantial funds for capital improvement projects on Kaua`i, including funds to build the Kaua`i Community College campus at Puhi, which was officially dedicated on January 14, 1977.  In December 1980, Tony Kunimura was selected chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, the finance/budget committee of the Hawai`i House of Representatives. 

Also, the town remembers with gratitude and aloha Mayor Kunimura’s wife, Phyllis Ann De Graff Kunimura ( 1933 – 2017), a native of upstate New York who came to Kaua`i in 1961 as an exchange teacher at Wilcox Elementary School in Lihu`e.  She fell in love with Kaua`i, and she fell in love with Tony Kunimura. She never returned to New York.  She made the Garden Island her home for 56 years.  

Phyllis Kunimura died on December 7, 2017.  That she died on the 76^th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the United States into World War II — a date the world will remember forever – put precious poignancy to the passing of Phyllis.

Phyllis Kunimura’s legacy to teaching as a kindergarten teacher at Koloa School for many years and the co-owner and administrator of Kaua`i  Independent Daycare Services, known as KIDS school in Kapa`a, defined her life.

Eduardo Enabore Malapit (1933 – 2007) was the third resident of Koloa who served as Mayor of the County of Kaua`i and Ni`ihau.  His tenure was  from 1974 to 1982.  A native of Hanapepe, he married a daughter of Koloa, Elizabeth (Liza) Amoroso (1937 – ). They made their home in Poipu, on Hoonani Road, across historic Koloa Landing, where their home overlooked Hoai Bay.

Mayor Malapit had the distinction of being the first mayor of Filipino ancestry in the United States.  Prior to his tenure as mayor, he served on the Kaua`i County Council from 1966 to 1974.  He was a role model to many young Filipinos, most prominent of whom is the Honorable Randal Grant Bolosan Valenciano, also a native of Hanapepe who today is the Chief Judge, Administrative Judge, and Senior Family Court Judge of the Fifth Circuit Court.  Like Malapit, he graduated from Waimea High School.  He earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Oregon, and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Washington, Seattle.  Like Malapit, he came home to Kaua`i, practiced law, and served on the Kaua`i County Council.  He was appointed to the Fifth Circuit Court of the State of Hawai`i in June 2007.

Liza Malapit, who grew up at Koloa Filipino Mill Camp, graduated from Kaua`i High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from Clarke University in Dubuque, iowa.   She came back to Kaua`i to serve the community, retiring from Mahelona Memorial Hospital after serving as dietician for 26 years.   Today, she is a resident of Lihu`e.  (Copyright © 2018 Catherine Pascual Lo)

See Also Page on “Filipino Firsts” — CLICK HERE

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© 2020.  COPYRIGHT Catherine Pascual Lo