New HPD
substation to
honor Kahanamoku

The area around the new
Waikiki office is filled with
memories of the legendary man

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

One hundred eleven years ago today, a Hawaiian was born with a name that carried the meaning "the one who will unite the islands."

Today the man who carried that name, Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, will be honored one more time as the city and county of Honolulu names the building that houses the Waikiki police substation after him.

His cousin Kamaka Clark Miyamoto of Honolulu will be among those at the 10:30 a.m. ceremony on Kuhio Beach.

There will be a blessing, speeches and songs.

"The kupuna said if he led a clean life and a humble life, he would live up to his name and that all things would go his way," Miyamoto said yesterday.

"I look at it as not only uniting the Hawaiian Islands, but the whole Polynesian area -- Japan, Australia, New Zealand and all the way over to the United States. Look how long he's been gone, and his name still comes back."

People just can't seem to get enough of the father of modern surfing, the Olympic legend, the Honolulu sheriff, the city's official greeter, the restaurant owner, the Duke.

"I think citizens in the community asked him to run for the office" of sheriff during a time when the Duke had been running gas stations, said Sandy Hall, who co-authored "Memories of Duke" and is researching another book about him.

"He had such an incredible Olympic career but never made any money."

"The whole area around that police station is so sacred to Duke's memory," Hall said. "He used to surf and swim with his beachboy friends there. He met his wife, Nadine, in front of the Royal Hawaiian."

He went to school at the now-gone Waikiki Kai Elementary. And Duke's Alley marks the location of his restaurant.

With his 26-year turn as sheriff, Duke wasn't the only member of his family to serve as a lawman. His father, who was named Duke of Edinburgh Halapu Kahanamoku, served as a policeman on the Honolulu force from 1909 to 1915, resigning as captain of the "third watch," Hall said.

The elder Duke was named by Princess Bernice Pauahi after a Hawaii visit by the Duke of Edinburgh, Hall said.