In Loving Memory of Annette Kaʻohelauliʻi
It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our dear friend and longtime member, Annette Kaʻohelauliʻi, who left us last month.
Annette was a trailblazer in every sense — a fearless adventurer, tireless advocate, and powerful leader whose dedication to Hawaiʻi’s people and places spanned decades. Whether she was leading hikes, mentoring new volunteers, or simply showing up with her boundless care for the ʻāina, Annette embodied the very spirit of the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi.
Annette first joined the Sierra Club in 1972 and spent over 45 years leading both local and national outings. She also served in numerous leadership roles, including Chapter Chair, and was instrumental in shaping our outings program into a space for learning, growth, and connection. Her passion for sharing Hawaiʻi’s natural beauty later inspired her to launch Annette’s Adventures, a pioneering ecotourism business offering custom-designed tours rooted in environmental education and respect for place.
Long before "ecotourism" became a buzzword, Annette was advocating for responsible tourism practices across Hawaiʻi and beyond. She co-founded the Hawaiʻi Ecotourism Association, served multiple terms on its Board of Directors, and played a key role in planning the 1994 Hawaiʻi State Conference on Ecotourism. Her leadership extended to public service as well: she spent eight years on the Natural Area Reserves Commission, including a term as Chairperson, appointed by Governor Benjamin Cayetano.
Annette's story began on an apple orchard in Tonasket, Washington, where she grew up as the eldest child in a hardworking family. Her deep love of nature, birds, and native plants blossomed early and only grew stronger when she moved to Hawaiʻi after marrying her husband, John Kaʻohelauliʻi, a Niʻihau native she met in college. One of her longtime mentors, the late Lorin Gill, invited her to help launch the High School Hikers Program, where she shared her knowledge and passion for Hawaiʻi’s ecosystems with generations of young people.
Throughout her life, Annette inspired countless people — hikers, students, fellow activists, and leaders — with her curiosity, generosity, and fierce commitment to protecting what she loved most: the land, the water, and the future of these islands.
Her impact is immeasurable, and her legacy will live on in every bird call echoed through the forest, every trail tread by young hikers, and every community member who finds purpose in mālama ʻāina.
In honor of Annette, several members of her Sierra Club ʻohana have shared memories, reflections, and photos — which you can view below. If you would like to contribute your own story or tribute, please email us at hawaii.chapter@sierraclub.org.
We are also planning an event in the coming months to honor Annette’s extraordinary contributions. More details will be shared soon.
Mahalo nui, Annette — for everything. You will be deeply missed, but your spirit continues to guide us forward.
I first met Annette around 15 years ago, when I first began getting acquainted with the Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi. I had no idea then of her incredible legacy, not just with the Sierra Club, but in her decades of work helping to shape the modern environmental movement here in Hawaiʻi. I just knew she was one of the Conservation Council's O.G. volunteers with a quick and … raunchy wit, who seemed to love making jokes and who everyone seemed to have the deepest respect for.
Eventually, I began to learn how much of a foundation she helped to lay for future generations, and of all the paths she built - including literally - for us to follow, and build upon. So much of what we have - from restored and intact native ecosystems, to government environmental programs and funding, to nonprofits doing the work on the ground and in the advocacy arena - is rooted in her legacy and lifetime of work. Annette has touched the lives of so many of us who call Hawaiʻi home, in so many ways, and will continue to do so. And while few may actually know of the debt of gratitude we owe her, I doubt that she would mind, as long as we continue to understand and advocate for the intrinsic preciousness of our ʻāina.
I had a recent opportunity to visit the Kaʻala Natural Area Reserve and surround myself in one of the most intact and beautiful native ecosystems I have ever experienced, including plants and wildlife found nowhere else on earth. As we walked along a boardwalk that Annette and other longtime Sierra Club volunteers helped to originally build, decades ago, I knew that Annette, despite her passing, will live on in these and so many other incredible spaces she loved, protected, and fought for throughout her life.
Mahalo nui loa and a hui hou, e Annette!
-Wayne Chung Tanaka
In 1973, from the perspective of a 14 year old new to organized hiking, Annette Kaʻohelauliʻi stood out alot—I guess because she was female, heavy, older and a smoker—-superficially sort of a “mom” type. But she was doing stuff no adult females in my circle did—hike and lead. While my mom, aunts, grandmother could organize—and they did garden—they didn’t hike AND LEAD. So being around Annette in the High School Hiking Program and then the Hawaiʻi Chapter gave me exposure to hiking, service trips and leading. Her influence has led me to be a lifelong Sierra Clubber—and I still lead today.
-Suzan Harada
As a teenager, I first met Annette on outings led by my uncle Lorin. She was brave, no-nonsense, knowledgeable and fun. She may have fallen from the Koʻolau summit and almost plunged off the cliff to her doom but she never stopped hiking and sharing her adventures. Later, I remember being dumbstruck as she described her first job in Hawaiʻi, making pasties with tassels for strip tease artists. As she aged and her health started to fail she continued full power as an advocate and leader. Her total commitment to protecting our natural environment serves as a template for future generations. We can honor Annette's memory by offering more of ourselves to the noble cause she championed.
-Gary Gill
When I became a member of the Sierra Club in 1991, Ed Stevens, Lola Mench and Annette Kaʻohelauliʻi were the longtime leaders. Annette was a prominent part of all facets of the Sierra Club Hawaiʻi Chapter. She led service trips. She hiked. She led fundraising efforts. She worked at the legislature, providing respite to young activists. She was on the ExComm. She served on national committees. She was frequently in the office.
Annette loved to share the outdoor experience with everyone. And she loved to laugh.
-David Kimo Frankel
Annette is the last of us "founders" of Hawaiʻi Chapter back in the late 1960's. Married to John, whose home island was Niʻihau and where Annette was allowed to visit only a few times, Annette was an early leader in the High School Hikers Program which helped endear Sierra Club to a suspicious Hawaiʻi. Names like Janet Gordon and Robert Wenkam have faded from Hawaiʻi Chapter memory, but we do indeed need to honor the memory of Annette and her consistent support for Hawaiʻi Chapter.
-Willis H A Moore
I joined the Sierra Club in 1971 in order to participate in the Hawaiʻi Chapter’s very first service project, fixing the Kalalau Trail, which was organized by my late uncle, Lorin Gill. Over the next decade, I continued to participate in the Hawaiʻi Service Trip Program, eventually becoming head of HSTP, and also went on to serve the Chapter as Outings Committee Chair. Through it all, Annette was a solid, reliable resource at the Club, always providing encouragement and perspective. She ably handled so many of my questions and set me in the right direction with such love and aloha that I stopped calling her “Annette” and just called her “Mom.” She was indeed my Sierra Club mother, and I suspect that she filled that role for many others of my generation as well. After I moved to the Big Island I didn’t see her as often (though she came to my wedding) but when our paths did cross, just being on the receiving end of her smile was like a hug from the good old days. I will miss my Sierra Club Mom, Annette.
-Andrea (Andie) Gill
Among Annette’s many endearing qualities was her droll sense of humor. I recall wandering around with her among the piers along San Francisco Bay following a day of meetings at the Sierra Club’s San Francisco headquarters. We came upon a small shop which sold coffee mugs. I chose “Save the Males”, which I still use for my daily coffee at breakfast. Annette’s choice of mugs was labeled “A Hard Man is Good to Find.”
-Dave Raney
In the mid 80s, shortly after we moved to Hawaiʻi, we signed up for a service trip to Kamakou led by Annette and Denby... and we were hooked! Annette's enthusiasm, knowledge, and passion were contagious. She opened up a whole new world for us, and it's largely because of her that we became outings leaders ourselves. She was a tireless advocate for the environment and a fun-loving party gal as well. We will really miss her but appreciate the incredible legacy she's left to us all.
-Jim and Cindy Waddington
Always upbeat, say-it-like-it-is, and feisty. Annette was proud of her history in Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi as an Outings Leader and advocate for the wild. She spoke fondly of her adventures in nature with others who loved it too. She survived many tribulations, a husband she loved dying of Huntington’s, falling off a 300ft precipice in Kahana, years of reduced mobility from bad knees (too much hiking!) and COPD (smoking and playing in the pesticide sprays at the family Apple farm in Oregon as a child). When one thinks of older or infirm friends it can often be with the idea of calling or visiting to cheer them up. Not so with Annette, she consistently surprised me by cheering me (underline) up! Annette was ready to leave us, she had a profound sense of fulfillment with her life, her achievements and her people. When I saw her last in hospice was with a warm embrace, a kiss and thanks for our friendship.
-Angela Huntemer
Annette Kaohelauli’i, a remembrance of a remarkable person....
The year was 1995. The occasion was the first Sierra Club Hawaiʻi Chapter ExCom meeting I’d ever attended. The unforgettable moment for me at that event was meeting Annette Kaʻohelauliʻi. The Hawaiʻi ExCom board had some great people. But it was Annette who made a point of reaching out to me. Earlier, in the meeting, I met Denise Antolini, a nice young attorney from the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, this was before they changed their name to “EarthJustice.” I heard about this issue on Oʻahu; and another legal challenge on Kauaʻi and a few more litigation efforts were likely to happen soon. My only experience in the Sierra Club up to that point had been leading hikes. I was hard pressed to keep up with all the discussions and decisions that the chapter seemed to need to make. Annette sensed my confusion and stepped in to give support.
She took me aside during our lunch break on the first day of the meeting—yes, the custom then, 30 years ago, was for ExCom meetings to last two full days! She explained the players and the process and the many issues the Hawaiʻi Chapter was tracking. Our Chapter budget was about $20,000 a year. There really wasn’t any staff, and the Chapter volunteers were so overwhelmed, that although the organization was involved in a number of important legal battles and campaigns, not one Sierra Club press release had been issued that year.
Annette asked me about my background and my interests. I told her that I had joined the Maui Group ExCom to chair the outings program. I had come to the chapter meeting because our Maui Group chair was too busy and no one else wanted to volunteer. Annette listened sympathetically. She told me that she had been drawn into the Club by Lorin Gill and his hiking programs. Annette encouraged me to stay involved. Because of her, I attended a second Chapter ExCom meeting, and then was officially elected as Maui Group rep to Chapter ExCom. By 1998, I watched as Annette encouraged David Kimo Frankel, Ron Terry, and other younger Sierra Club leaders in their efforts to restructure the Chapter. Somehow, enough funding was scraped up to hire our first full-time Chapter Director, David Kimo Frankel, rent a small office, and pretty much double or triple our impact. Annette truly believed in the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi and wanted the Club to succeed.
Shortly after that, Annette worked with our dedicated Chapter Treasurer, Ed Stevens, to provide for the Hawaiʻi Chapter’s future success. Ed set up a fund from his estate, with the Sierra Club Foundation. That fund generated a yearly interest payment that was available to fund Sierra Club educational programs and litigation. It changed everything for Hawaiʻi Chapter, giving us a sustained income stream.
Annette continued to extend the hand of friendship to myself and so many others. She invited me to stay at her place in Kāneʻohe when I came from Maui to attend Chapter functions. She encouraged me to volunteer to represent Hawaiʻi Chapter at National Sierra Club events as the Chapter Delegate, and then volunteered to serve on various National Sierra Club committees herself. When I arrived in San Francisco in 1996 for my first four-day National Sierra Club “Council of Club Leaders” (fondly referred to by all as “The Circus” because so many things were happening at once), there was Annette, once again reaching out to introduce me to key people and show me the ropes of a whole new world.
Over the next 15 years, I would see Annette at Club meetings. She was one of our connections to secure the Trail and Mountain Club cabin in Waimānalo for some truly unforgettable Chapter ExCom meetings. We would chat into the night and her unfailing sense of humor, and hearty laugh, echoed across the Trail and Mountain Club compound.
The years passed. Annette got busy with her work with the Hawaiʻi Ecotourism Association, which she helped found. Often called an “eco-warrior”—she spoke strongly for the need to recognize the impacts of tourism and moderate its growth in Hawaiʻi. She started Annette’s Adventures, offering fabulous birdwatching experiences. Despite health challenges, she still led Sierra Club service projects, and mentored new hike leaders.
In 2008, the Hawaiʻi Chapter celebrated its 40th anniversary with a gala event. I was serving as Chapter Chair at that time. Annette was on hand to present the Chapter’s Laulima Award for stewardship to her friend and fellow Kāneʻohe activist, the spirited Lola Mench. Annette delighted in seeing her dear friend, Lorin Gill honored at that same event, for his lifetime of work with environmental education. Lorin passed a few years later and Annette set up a scholarship fund at UH in his name for students “who want to learn more about the marvelous and unique natural resources of Hawaiʻi.”
The last time Annette and I got together on Maui it was a very inspiring occasion. It got harder for her to travel as the years passed, since she faced a number of health challenges and came to depend on oxygen a lot of the time. Even so, I got a call from Annette in late 2018. The Chapter had an award they wanted to present to legendary Maui botanist and native forest advocate, Art Madeiros. All that was needed was a suitable venue. Maui Group was finalizing plans for our annual meeting in February 2019—it was a perfect fit. Annette, along with then Hawaiʻi Chapter director Marti Townsend came over to Maui to personally make the presentation to Art. The event was standing room only, and made the Maui News front page. A short time later, COVID shut down all Sierra Club events for the next two years. My last visit with Annette was in late April of this year. We sat on the lanai of her small apartment in Kāneʻohe. We swapped old memories and stories. We remembered old friends. Annette’s movements were slow, but her appetite for laughter and life were not diminished. That's exactly as I shall remember her—full of life, laughter, dedication, and kindness.
-Lucienne de Naie