Meth death worsens Ho family's grief
Autopsy results showing that Don Ho's daughter Dayna Ho-Henry died of an accidental methamphetamine overdose makes the family's grief worse, says her brother Dwight Ho.
"I don't know what you can say with this," Ho said. "It just makes us sadder. We just wish it was different, and we just miss my sister."
Ho-Henry, 52, died less than a week after the legendary singer's funeral. About 8 a.m. May 11, Ho-Henry was found unresponsive at the Kanoena Street home of a friend. She was pronounced dead at the North Shore home. Don Ho died of heart failure on April 14.
The city Medical Examiner's Office said yesterday that she died due to the "toxic effects of methamphetamine."
An autopsy to determine the cause of death was performed last month, but the results were deferred pending laboratory tests.
At a Waikiki memorial in early May, Ho-Henry swam in the ocean amid dozens of outrigger canoes and boats as the Ho family spread her father's ashes into the sea.
Ho-Henry often danced hula at her father's Waikiki show during the 1970s. The 1973 Kamehameha Schools graduate recently had been a caregiver for seniors.
"She really loved to dance, and when he used to have her on stage, he would refer to her as his favorite dancer," Dwight Ho said. "She really enjoyed that."
He said his sister and father grew especially close toward their final days together. Ho-Henry used her skills as a caregiver to tend to her father's ailing health.
"It was really her nature," he said. "She was just a caring person who would offer help, whether it was her job or not."
Ho-Henry is survived by her two children, Mahina, 21, and Kulia, 11. She is also survived by siblings Donnie Jr., Donalei, Dondi, Dori and Dwight Ho; and half siblings Kea and Kealii Ho, Hoku Clements and Kaimana Farris.