Honolulu Catholic Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
in Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. The cemetery is for Roman Catholics
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and is located at 839-A South King Street, 21°18′15"N 157°51′9"W. It is maintained by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
The Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, officially in Latin Dioecesis Honoluluensis, is an ecclesiastical territory or particular church of the Catholic Church in the United States...
and has been the final resting place for many Roman Catholics from Honolulu before 1930. The cemetery is open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily. The cemetery is closed to further burials by the Department of Health.
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
to the Roman Catholic mission during the 1840s and was identified by the title "Claim No. 4". The second lot was purchased by several wealthy Catholics and given to the Roman Catholic mission. Originally on the outskirts of the village of Honolulu, with the makai side consisting of estuarine wetlands and man-made ponds for the harversting of sea salt (or paakai in Hawaiian
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
). The Waikiki side of the cemetery was the old Plantation and rice paddies. In 1889, the cemetery consisted of scattered graves and overrunning paths. Wealthier Catholics ensured that their private plots were enclosed by wooden or iron fences and a tombstone. Msgr. Koeckemann
Herman Koeckemann
Herman Koeckemann, formally Bernard Hermann Koeckemann, SS.CC., , served as the second vicar apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu — from 1881 to 1892.Born in Ostbeveren, Westphalia, Germany, he was baptized as Bernard...
erected the tall iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
in the center of the cemetery. He was eventually laid to rest under the cross. Several other bishops of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of the Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is a Roman Catholic religious order of brothers, priests, and nuns...
, (Msgri. Gulstan Ropert
Gulstan Ropert
Gulstan Ropert, SS.CC., of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary served as the third vicar apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of the Sandwich Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, from 1892 to 1903. Born in France at Kerfago, St. Gildas de Rhuys, Morbihan, in...
, Libert H. Boeynaems
Libert H. Boeynaems
Libert H. Boeynaems, formally Libert Hubert John Louis Boeynaems, SS.CC., , was the fourth vicar apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu....
, and Stephen Alencastre
Stephen Alencastre
Bishop Stephen Peter Alencastre, SS.CC. was the fifth and last vicar apostolic of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands — now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu...
) were also buried next to Msgr. Koeckemann. Remains of some forty of the early members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts also lay buried since 1853 in a common grave on site. Other notable people buried in this cemetery include: the native Hawaiian patriot and former delegate to the United State Congress, Robert William Wilcox
Robert William Wilcox
Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox , nicknamed the Iron Duke of Hawaii, was a native Hawaiian revolutionary soldier and politician. He led uprisings against both the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii under King Kalākaua and the Republic of Hawaii under Sanford Dole, what are now known as the...
; Princess Eugenie Ninito Sumner of Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, wife of High Chief John Keolaloa Sumner, and friend of Queen Liliuokalani.
Saint Augustine by the Sea Catholic Church
Saint Augustine by the Sea Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church of Hawai‘i in the United States. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Honolulu and its bishop; it is staffed by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary...
in Waikīkī
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
laid out a central road and side paths in the cemetery so that each lot could be reached without walking over neighboring lots.
Many trees were removed and in 1892, Father Valentin planted the stately royal palms that line the main lane to the cemetery. Father Valentin reported that a society was organized for the upkeep and improvement of the cemetery. Members paid an annual fee of five dollars.
A permanent sexton
Sexton (office)
A sexton is a church, congregation or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger...
was appointed and anyone acquiring a lot paid ten dollars for a grave and another ten dollars for the digging. The makai portion of the cemetery was found to be unfit for digging to the six-foot depth required by the Board of Health.
After the closure of the cemetery by the Board of Health, the vicariate made arrangements for Catholic interments at Diamond Head Memorial Park.
As of 2004, the lots closest to King Street are watered and maintained better. Those plots further in (close to the Hawaiian Electric Company yard) appear to be minimally maintained, if at all. Several grave markers are sequestered at the corner of what appears to have been a chapel and tree roots from a Ficus
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
have obscured the original plots.