A FINAL ALOHA FOR KIMO MCVAY
Kimo Wilder McVay got a send-off in keeping with his stature as a local show-business legend when several hundred friends, relatives and well-wishers gathered for yesterday morning's memorial service at the Outrigger Canoe Club in Waikiki. KIMO MCVAY / LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT PROMOTER
McVay draws crowd
one last timeOBITUARIES
By John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comIf it hadn't been for the fact that it was his own funeral, McVay probably would have been there promoting it as the event of the decade.
He wouldn't have been wrong. For the first time in almost 20 years, Keola and Kapono Beamer performed together. The two brothers approached the stage from different areas on the crowded lanai and sang "Honolulu City Lights."
It was clear that the brief performance was taking place out of respect for their former manager.
"Kimo managed the Beamer brothers for I can't remember how many years -- five, six, seven, eight -- but it seemed like a lifetime because there were so many great memories," Kapono said."Kimo always told us that if we would get together again, he would promote it and make it 'bigger than the second coming of Christ,'" Keola added. "So, Kimo, we're sorry we showed up a little late, but those were really great years, wonderful times of joy and happiness. Kimo's beautiful abundant joy for living was such a part of our lives, I'll always remember."
And so -- for Kimo -- the Beamers sang together. Keola stood to the makai side of the stage, Kapono to the mauka side. Bassist John Kolivas made it a trio as he stood slightly behind them. The crowd was standing, some in tears, by the time the song was over.
"Kimo did it again: The fractures of the past came together today," Jesse Gamiao said afterward. Gamiao, Edwin Ramones, Bobby Gonzales and Hal Bradbury were there representing the original Fabulous Krush -- another of the many acts McVay helped manage or promote during his four-decade reign as the self-styled Baron of Waikiki.
Bradbury thought for a moment that McVay was there in the audience.
"I saw his brother (in the front row), and I didn't even know he had a brother," Bradbury said. "I thought it was Kimo there with us."
Charles Butler McVay IV, calm and dignified in a beige suit, hat and shades, did indeed look strikingly similar to his younger brother. Other family members in attendance included McVay's widow, Betsy, his daughters Melissa and Lindsay, and five grandchildren.
The crowd was a mix of the local business, entertainment and old kamaaina communities. Nona Beamer was there to watch her sons perform. Others in the crowd included Pam Anderson, Jack Cione, Jon de Mello and Leah Burnstein of the Mountain Apple Co., Nephi Hannemann, Kekoa Kaapu, Jeff Apaka, jazz singer Andrea Young, James Burns and Emme Tomimbang, Guido Salmaggi, Alfredo Romero, Carlos Barbosa and George "Granny Goose" Groves.
Richard Natto stopped by on behalf of the Society of Seven-Las Vegas. Tino Ibach of Tino & the Rhythm Klub came over from the Esprit Lounge.There were also some veterans of the old days at Duke's. Al Akana of the original Aliis was there. So were three of the old-time doormen -- Lee Afuvai, Henry Ayau and Adam Suapaia -- all of whom went on to successful careers in the club and restaurant business.
"He (McVay) always knew how to draw a crowd," U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said.
Abercrombie came close to tears while speaking about McVay's long struggle to clear the name of his father, Charles B. McVay III, in the sinking of the heavy cruiser Indianapolis in the closing days of World War II.
Capt. McVay was made a scapegoat while others who bore responsibility for the subsequent loss of life were not called to account. Abercrombie displayed a photo of Kimo and himself taken at Pearl Harbor after Congress and the president exonerated Capt. McVay. He later presented it to Betsy and the McVay family.
Tom Moffatt was one of several people who spoke of lighter matters: Kimo's wit, his piano playing, the delight he took in developing elaborate projects such as "Roach Bowl II" in 1988, and his tenacious loyalty to whomever he happened to be representing.
Andy Bumatai, yet another local entertainer who was once managed by McVay, presided as master of ceremonies with a great sense of when to move on and when to pause long enough to lighten things up.
John Hirokawa spoke movingly of his experiences as McVay's last client/product and close friend. John Rowles, whom McVay managed during his heyday here in the early '70s, sent a message from Australia promising that he'd be dedicating his next performance to his former manager.
Don Ho, who described McVay as having been "a great boss" back in their days together at Duke's, sang "I'll Remember You" as Ayau, Hirokawa, Lindsay Roberson and Pastor Jerry Saludez launched a small canoe and paddled out to complete the ceremony offshore.
Kapono Beamer's solo performance on Hawaiian nose flute closed the program.