Pals will scatter Don Ho's ashes at sea May 5
The life of entertainer Don Ho, the biggest name in Hawaiian music since statehood, will be celebrated with ocean-side services and the scattering of his ashes on May 5 in Waikiki, longtime friend Cha Thompson said yesterday.
Thompson and John De Fries, another close friend, are overseeing arrangements for the service.
Although some of the logistics remain to be finalized, Thompson said the program will begin at 9 a.m. at Queen's Beach and conclude at the Duke Kahanamoku statue. From there a flotilla of canoes organized by a third friend, Tony Guerrero, will take Ho's ashes beyond the reef.
"A lot of the real old-time beachboys, like Buffalo (Keaulana) and all of them, will be there because they knew Donald personally, and they're all coming out," Thompson said.
She added that the services will be "dignified, not chaotic."
"Don was 'hang loose,' and he appeared to maybe not have things organized (onstage), but he knew exactly what he was doing. That's the kind of send-off that we want to give him. His family is in agreement (and) his wife, Haumea, is in agreement, and that's how we want to honor him."