GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Hundreds of friends and family gathered yesterday at the Diamond Head Memorial Park Mortuary to remember former University of Hawaii geography professor and Hokule'a crew member Abraham Piianaia. Well-wisher Edith McKinzie, left, and Piianaia's son Gordon hugged prior to formal services.

Family and friends remember
UH geography professor
Abraham Piianaia

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By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com

Kamehameha Schools President Michael Chun says Abraham St. Chad Kikiakoi Kalilioku Piianaia was a role model for educators of Hawaiian ancestry.

Chun said that while growing up with Piianaia's children, "in that home, education was No. 1.

"He saw through education being able to sustain our culture and to strengthen it," he added.

More than 300 people attended a service for noted educator Piianaia at Diamond Head Memorial Park yesterday.

Many shared memories they had with Piianaia. Former students recalled taking his geography class, while family members reminisced about Piianaia's childhood.

Piianaia died Feb. 2. He was 87.

Piianaia was born on June 15, 1915, in Waikahalulu in Nuuanu. He graduated from Kamehameha School for Boys in 1933 and later obtained a bachelor's degree in government and public administration at the University of Hawaii.

For 40 years, Piianaia was a UH geography professor and lecturer, teaching thousands of students about Hawaii and the Pacific.

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Kealoha Hoe left a head wreath for Abraham Piianaia yesterday prior to formal services.

Piianaia's former geography student Bobby Camara flew from the Big Island to Honolulu to attend Piianaia's service. Camara said he took Piianaia's class in the early 1970s. Since then he has remained close to Piianaia and his family.

"They basically hanai-ed me," Camara said.

Camara described Piianaia as a soft-spoken man who never drew attention to himself.

"He demonstrated the importance of honesty and integrity and just being who you are," Camara said. "When you were around him, you knew he was somebody. He had this intangible aura."

During the service, Piianaia's daughter, Ilima, described how her father learned about Hawaiian culture and values at an early age.

"He never forgot his foundation," Ilima said. "He knew who he was and where he came from."

She added, "That foundation made him an exceptional teacher."

Piianaia was also a crew member aboard the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokule'a, traveling from Tahiti to the Cook Islands during the mid-1980s.

Along with his sea voyages, Piianaia "also voyaged in the search for knowledge," UH geography professor Brian Murton said during the service.

"He was a man who exemplified who I think what a geographer should be," Murton said.

Piianaia's children followed in their father's footsteps as an educator and voyager. His eldest son, Gordon, is a retired director of the Hawaiian Studies Institute at the Kamehameha Schools, while his other son, Norman, is a senior master of Matson Line's container vessel Matsonia.

And Ilima Piianaia has lectured in geography and planning classes at UH.

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Kumu hula Alicia Smith hugged Abraham Piianaia's daughter, Ilima, yesterday following formal services.

Like Piianaia, all three children have taken part in sea voyages. Gordon has been a captain aboard the Hokule'a, while Norman has been a crew member. Ilima was a crew member aboard the Hawaiiloa.

At the service, UH Hawaiian language professor Rubellite Johnson said: "Abraham was the kind of person who would never get lost anywhere.

"He always knew where he was."