Kona woman
wills millions
to isle groupsMaude Wodehouse left
$100 million to local schools
and charities
KAILUA-KONA >> Upon her death this summer, Kona philanthropist Maude Wodehouse left a little more than $100 million to be shared by 16 schools, nonprofit agencies and charities, according to Stafford Kiguchi, a Bank of Hawaii spokesman.
Wodehouse, 87, died July 2 at her ranch home above Keauhou, Kona. Bank of Hawaii is handling the trusts set up for beneficiaries.
One recipient was the Nature Conservancy, which had been receiving gifts of $5,000 a year from Wodehouse since the 1980s, said Grady Timmons, conservancy communications director.
On her death, she gave the conservancy $9 million.
"We had no idea a gift like this was coming," Timmons said. "It came as a complete surprise."
The conservancy had given Wodehouse a ride in a helicopter over Hamakua Coast forests in the 1980s, said conservancy Director Suzanne Case.
"She hadn't been up in the forest. She was clearly very, very deeply affected by that experience," Case said.
Born on Huehue Ranch, North Kona, where her father was manager, Wodehouse, then Maude Ackerman, attended Kona Private School in middle Kona with 31 other children. One of them was Billy Paris, who still operates his own ranch today at age 80.
"She was a really good person, really kind to us younger kids," Paris said. After seventh grade, Ackerman left to attend Punahou School, then married Cenric Wodehouse, an heir of Honolulu landowner Victoria Ward.
In 1947 they moved to Kona to a 1,500-acre ranch Cenric Wodehouse dubbed Poho Kala, a common phrase in those days meaning "a waste of money."
Maude Wodehouse entertained the children of Oahu relatives in summers, Paris said. At other times she would hold elegant balls with the women dressed in beautiful gowns, he said.
Every winter, Paris would send her a 15-pound rib roast from his ranch. Within a few days, she would reply with a 5-pound box of See's chocolates, he said.
Besides the Nature Conservancy, other beneficiaries of Wodehouse are the American Cancer Society, Bishop Museum, Hawaii Community Foundation, Salvation Army, Punahou School, Seabury Hall, Iolani School, Daughters of Hawaii, Hospice of Kona, Christ Episcopal Church (Kealakekua), Hawaii Lions Foundation, Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, American Red Cross Hawaii State Chapter and the Institute for Human Services.
At Hawaii Preparatory Academy, which is another beneficiary, spokeswoman Phyllis Kanekuni called Wodehouse's generosity "extraordinary."
"We're currently studying the trust document to ensure that we fulfill the wishes of Cenric and Maude Wodehouse," she said.
