EVA TEXEIRA / KAPAHULU
GARDEN ENTHUSIAST

Decorated yard was
feature attraction
on Hunter Street

Her Kapahulu garden drew crowds, stopped traffic and delighted neighbors.

It was a field trip destination for classes at nearby elementary schools, and a regular stop for those wanting to get into the Christmas spirit any time of year.

For more than 30 years, Eva Texeira filled her Hunter Street lawn with scores of Christmas decorations -- which stayed up year-round -- and hundreds of garden statues. Her obsession was a full-time occupation that kept her trimming grass and cleaning garden ornaments from sun-up to sunset, relatives said.

"The decorations were an all-around job," said Eugene Vierra, one of Texeira's sons. "She cut the grass with scissors -- the whole yard! Every day, she's trimming."

Texeira, who started her garden after retiring from Love's Bakery in the mid-1970s, died Wednesday at the Queen's Medical Center. She was 87.

Almost daily, Texeira's collection grew with donations from family members, neighbors and even strangers.

And at least once a month, she would insist to be taken to other over-the-top yards, including one in Pearl City that she especially admired, Vierra said.

Christmastime brought even more festoons.

One year, Texeira decorated a lawn tree with hundreds of soda cans cut into pinwheels. That, Vierra said, was an especially big hit with the neighbors.

Texeira was able to cut her own grass until about three years ago, when bending down became difficult. But only within the last few weeks -- anticipating that her health was failing -- did Texeira start giving her lawn statues away to family members, friends and whoever else would take them.

There are still several left in her garden, and Vierra said the remaining decorations are up for grabs.

Texeira is survived by sons Eugene and Clifford Vierra, and daughters Adele Jaynes and Bernadette Texeira. She had 46 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren.

Services for Texeira are set for Thursday at St. Patrick Catholic Church. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m., and Mass will start at 11:30 a.m. Burial will follow at Diamond Head Cemetery.