Lydia Liliuokalani Kawānanakoa

Helen Lydia Kamakaʻeha Liliʻuokalani Kawānanakoa (July 22, 1905 – May 19, 1969) was a Hawaiian royal who was a member of the House of Kawānanakoa and the second daughter of Prince David Kawānanakoa and Princess Abigail Campbell Kawānanakoa.

Lydia Liliʻuokalani Kawānanakoa
Born	July 22, 1905 Honolulu, Oahu
Died	May 19, 1969 (aged 63) Waialae, Honolulu, Oahu
Burial	Nuʻuanu Memorial Park
Spouse	William Jeremiah Ellerbrock ​ ​ (m. 1925; div. 1927)​ Charles James Brenham ​ ​ (m. after 1928, divorced)​ Clark Lee ​ ​ (m. 1938; died 1953)​ Charles E. Morris ​ ​ (m. 1954; div. 1959)​ ​ ​ (m. 1968)​
Issue	Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa
House	Kawānanakoa
Father	David Kawānanakoa
Mother	Abigail Campbell Kawānanakoa
Occupation	Royalty, philanthropist

Centennial marker at ʻIolani Palace. Kawānanakoa is listed as founder of the Friends of ʻIolani Palace.

Early life

Born July 22, 1905,[1][2] Liliʻuokalani Kawānanakoa was named after Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii.[3] Having been born after the abolition of the monarchy, she had no official royal title; however, she was still known by many in the Hawaiian community as Princess Liliuokalani.[1][3]

She attended a convent school in San Francisco.[3] During her youth, she was known as the "flapper" princess and sported the then-fashionable bobbed hair.[3][4] Her siblings were David Kalākaua Kawānanakoa and Abigail Kapiʻolani Kawānanakoa.[5]^:166

Marriages and family

Liliʻuokalani married five times. Her first marriage was to Dr. William Jeremiah Ellerbrock on January 17, 1925 at Honolulu.[3] The couple had one daughter before divorcing in 1927:

• Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa (born 1926).[6][7]

Following the divorce, Abigail was adopted by Liliʻuokalani's mother.[3] Her second marriage was to Charles James Brenham at Niu, August 11, 1928; they also divorced.[3] Her third husband was newspaperman Clark Lee, whom she married in 1938; Lee died of a heart attack in 1953.[3] Her fourth husband, whom she married in 1954, was Charles E. Morris Jr; the couple divorced in 1959, and remarried in 1968.[3]

Legacy and death

She was the founder of the Kona Hawaiian Civic Club in 1952 and was the founder and First President of Friends of ʻIolani Palace from 1966 to 1969.[8][9][10]

She died of cancer at her home in Waialae, Honolulu, on May 19, 1969. At her request, her funeral was a private ceremony with none of the pomp or displays of former Hawaiian royal funerals. She is buried at Nuʻuanu Memorial Park.[1]

References

1. United States. Congress (1969). Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress, Volume 115, Part 10. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 13832–13833.
2. "Born". Evening Bulletin. July 22, 1905.
3. Moniek (February 26, 2020). "Lydia Liliuokalani Kawānanakoa - Regal grace and dignity". History of Royal Women. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
4. "A Lazy Princess". Toledo Weekly Blade. September 21, 1922.
5. Hawkins, Richard A. (2003). "Princess Abigail Kawananakoa: the Forgotten Territorial Native Hawaiian Leader". Hawaiian Journal of History. Honolulu: Hawaii Historical Society. 37: 163–177. hdl:10524/354.
6. Kapiikauinamoku (1955). "Family of Prince David Kawananakoa Is Listed". in The Story of Hawaiian Royalty. The Honolulu Advertiser, Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
7. Kapiikauinamoku (1955). "Daughters of Kiwalao Flee From Kamehameha". in The Story of Hawaiian Royalty. The Honolulu Advertiser, Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
8. McKinzie, Edith Kawelohea (May 16, 2008). "'Iolani Palace requires respect, decorum". The Honolulu Advertise.
9. Pang, Gordon Y. K. (April 19, 2006). "'Iolani Palace in financial straits". The Honolulu Advertise.