Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 11, 1 November 2002 — Family seeks information on Bertha Loe Kupahu [ARTICLE]

Family seeks information on Bertha Loe Kupahu

The descendants of John Haui and Eme Kulamanu Kupahu, will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kupahu 'Ohana Organization July 4-6, 2003. Families will eome from across Ameiiea for this celebration. Their ehildren; Bertha Loe Kupahu, Sadie Kauukualii Pe'ahi, Samuel Ka'ilipua Kupahu, Miriam Pililua Ha'o Hūakawa, Manuel "Joe Ganz" Ehu Kupahu, Henry Iwi'ena Kupahu of Lahaina, Maui, and Bertha Loe Māhoe are all deceased. Henry Kupahu was the last of the Kupahu children. He died Feb 8, 2001 , at the age of 82. Eme had 1 6 births, but only these lived to adulthood. The surviving third generation grandchildren humbly seek information about a story told to Bertha Loe Phillips in 1984 at an open house at Kamehameha Schools. This was the only time that story was to ld. This incredible stoiy was about a female child born in July of 1920 at Tripler Hospital and was given or hānai by an attendee or friend of Bertha Loe Kupahu, then about 20-22 years of age. Bertha died July 8, 1920. In this same year, Bertha's mother Eme had her 16th child on Aug.t 28, 1920 and named this newborn, BerthaLoe Kupahu, II, after the older daugh-

ter that died seven weeks earlier. In 1938, the younger Bertha Kupahu married George Ke'a Māhoe of Kailua and in 1940, she had a child and named her Bertha Loepilika Kupahu Māhoe. Bertha Kupahu Mahoe (II) died August 11,1 975. Bertha Mahoe married John Phillips and eventually worked at the dining hall at Kamehameha Schools. It was her name tag, "Bertha Loe" Phillips that attracted the eye of a visitor and she commented that it was the same name as her kupuna. She went on to say that her mother was raised in Hau'ula. She said her kupuna's name was Bertha Loe Kupahu and she died giving birth to her mother at Tripler. She said her mother was adopted by a Mormon eouple. The name could be "Ramsey," "Ramses," or similar in sound and pronunciation. She would be 82 years old today and if this person is her daughter (the teller of the story), she would be approximately 58-62 years old or as old as Bertha Phillips. Before more information could be exchanged, the teller of the story disappeared into the crowd and was lost forever. However sketchy the stoiy is, there were similarities in what she was saying. Having recited the story to our late Unele Henry, who was born in 1917, he recalled his sister worked

atFort Shafter and confirmed that Tripler had hospital facilities located at Fort Shafter in the early 1900s before moving to Red Hill. He recalled that there was a relationship with Tripler and his big sister but he was very young and no one spoke of her after her death. He believes that she may have worked there, however, at the time of death, her occupation was telephone operator for Mutual Telephone. Grandfather Kupahu was partial to haoles and if there was such an involvement, this may have caused Bertha to quietly keep the secret. A photo of our family, taken in 1 938 at the eelebration of our ^mnh^aEiei^ 60 th birthday at their home on Lakimela Lane in Pālama, shows another photo on the wall of "big Bertha" with her then siblings, Sadie, Samuel and Miriam. She, the eldest, is center top of that picture taken approximately 1912, and she would be about 1 6 years of age. Over the years, we have tried to pieee the story and trace the credibility of its source. As this was kept a secret, research alone cannot confirm it. We would like to bring closure to this story. We would greatly appreciated any information anyone may have. Please eall Luana Na'miKama at 486-1400 or 291 -0841. Please leave a message. Mahalo. ■