Memories of Uncle Frank:
- setting me and the three other boys straight many times as kids; scoldings that were much needed 
- his drafting table downstairs at Pearl City; was off limits to us, but was played with many times
- his sayings, "ah, c'mon!" and "pshhh, gimme a break!"
- keeping the family chihuahua safe in his shirt during New Years eve
- taking our money on the golf course; could never beat him; he was straight and steady
- cracking jokes with him at every family outing

The most touching memory, though, was the way his face lit up when talking about Paige, pure joy.

Uncle Frank, thanks for the memories.  You will be missed very much.

Our fond memories of Frank were many.  One in particular was a Vegas trip we took and decided to go to Laughlin.  It was a pretty boring and long ride from Vegas to there.  When we got there, there were about 7 casinos, a small shopping mall and other bldgs.  Merle and I said we never wanted to go there again, but Frank thought it was so interesting.  From the drive, to the seeing the river, to visiting every casino, he said he really enjoyed there.  Guess it was an interesting trip after all.

Michelle remembers also when Uncle Frank used to go to the movies in Mililani.  He wasn't senior citizen age yet somehow he managed to get to see movies at that price.  He would say,"they asked me if I wanted the senior citizen ticket and I said sure".  He made us laugh so much. 

We miss him.

Deepest sympathies,
Carl, Iris, Michelle and Randy

MEMORIES OF MY BROTHER
 
At first, I hit a wall when asked to come up with memories of my brother.  There is a 7 year age difference between us.
 
When Frank was at Kaaawa elementary, I was at home with mom.  When I was in elementary school, Frank was at Kahuku Intermediate and High School.  When I went to Kahuku, Frank was in the Navy.
 
But memories began to surface.
 
I remember being a toddler in my crib in the old house, we called the blue house, because dad always painted it blue.  I was in the crib and Frank was looking through the crib bars and then ran out the room to tell mom my diaper was dirty.
 
I remember being around 5 years old and being sick in the bathroom, and Frank ran down to mom's barbershop to tell mom I was sick.
 
He was a boy scout in his younger years.  As a boy scout, he learned to make tasty bisquick biscuits on an open fire using 2 tin pie pans to bake the biscuits.
 
Frank loved the outdoors  excluding yard work.  He fished.  Back in the day when the schools of oama were huge, he regularly brought home fish to fry.  He knew how to go crabbing in Kahana and knew how to repair the nets.
 
He loved animals.  He was once a member of the 4H club. He once had a white rat  I do not know if the rat had a name  but he loved that rat and slept with it.  I think he tried to train it to do tricks and managed to get it to sit up and beg.
 
Frank had an affinity for birds.  At one point, he raised pigeons and kept some kind of tag records on them.  He also loved parakeets.  He somehow brought a couple of keets home, read about clipping their wings and tried to train them to talk and to walk on his arm.
 
Conversely, he enjoyed hunting.  He started with BB guns and then graduated to rifles and archery.  He did bag and brought home a couple of pheasants which the folks had mounted for him. 
 
He took up surfing as a teen.  Back in the past, Kahana Bay was one of the better surf spots around and Frank and his friends went there regularly.  Boy, were the surfboards large and heavy.
 
Frank and his friends were into high jinks.  One of their past times was to go to Temple Valley during the Christmas season and loosen the decorative light bulbs on the trees so that the lights went out.
 
In high school Frank was a wrestler.  Apparently he was good at it.  I remember going with mom to some of the matches and being appalled at how these boys were hugging and rolling around on the ground and putting their chins on each other's butts.  Frank was a feather weight (I think); evidently one way to keep their weight down was to avoid water.  This included their own saliva.  They would stand around hocking up their saliva and spitting it out on a regular basis. You needed to watch out walking around these guys.
 
Frank and some of his friends were productive.  They regularly gathered guavas and somehow managed to get to town to the Meadow Gold processing plant to sell the guavas. 
 
He also worked picking pineapples and opted for 2 or 3 summers in a row to dorm on Lanai to earn spending money.
 
Frank and some of friends chose to join the Navy.  This was the 1960's and the draft was in existence.  They really wanted the Air Force, because the food was better and the PT was less; but the Air Force was full.  So the second choice was the Navy.  He once gave me a genuine Sailer hat, the round white kind; I wore it regularly  my genuine sailor's hat!
 
Frank always seemed to have a plan.  As a teenager, he knew he would have to go into the military; he also knew he was not going to make it a career.  But he decided he would build on the military time and make use of the GI bill for educational purposes.  He seemed to know he wanted a government based job sot hat his military time would apply towards retirement  perhaps this was part of the Boy Scout motto  always be prepared.
 
He seemed to know he wanted to be married and have children.  On his wedding day to Merle, it was the most nervous I ever saw him.  He chain-smoked like crazy.
There were beads of sweat dripping down his neck up until the I Do's and the pronouncement of being husband and wife.  With that final ceremonial kiss, he had the biggest smile on his face ever.
 
Subsequently, other moments of joy for Frank were the births of his 2 sons, buying his first home, and, years later the birth of his granddaughter Paige.
 
These are my memories of my brother.

Merle,
I am sorry to hear about Frank's passing.  I still remember my times with you and Frank at the bank.  Please get in touch with me.

Irene Nishida

Frank was a good buddy at Kaaawa Elementary School. My condolences to his family.

To the Kawana families of Kaaawa and Mililani, all of us who grew up,played,fished & attended Kaaawa school & Kahuku schools with him comes our heartfelt condolences..
He will be truly missed..

Merle: so sorry to learn of Frank's passing.  My thoughts and prayers are with you. Be as strong as you always have been.
Judy Landford

OBITUARY

Frank M. Kawana

30 March, 1949 – 15 April, 2015

Borthwick Mortuary

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