Daughter of Hawaii

ALOHA is a fond 'Hello'

or 'Goodbye'

Play da song!

Aloha to the Builders of Our Hawaii. . .

I never met this lady, but feel gratitude

for all she did here in these

islands.

Don't you think that today

she would have been a Blogger? 

Posted On March 3rd, 2011 - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

EVANITA SUMNER MIDKIFF

Was born June 8, 1922 in Honolulu,

 Territory of Hawaii,

 and died on February 25, 2011, 

in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

 She was 88.

She was the oldest daughter

 of George Wilson Sumner

 and Eva Elise Helene Focke Sumner,and great-

granddaughter of Paul Neumann, attorney general

 for King Kalakaua and Queen Lili’uokalani. Although

 Paul Neumann was only the Queen’s attorney general

 for 36 hours,

he was her personal attorney until his death in 1901.

He served as her personal representative,

and with Prince David Kawananakoa traveled to

Washington D.C. in February of 1893.
He and Prince David successfully

kept Hawaii from becoming a Territory of

the United States under

President Grover Cleveland. 

That changed in 1898 when McKinley took office.

He also successfully negotiated a pension

for the Queen and Princess Ka’iulani to live on.

In 1895, Paul Neumann defended the Queen

at her trial.

Her father, George Wilson Sumner,

was from Indiana,

a Naval Submariner, and attended the

US Naval Academy,

came to Hawaii with the Navy, and became

President of American Factors

(now known as AmFac).

He died of a heart attack in 1963.

Another of her paternal ancestors was

Martha Crockett,

Davy Crockett’s first cousin.

Her mother, Eva Elise Focke Sumner,

was born in Honolulu in 1898.

Eva’s grandmother was born in Acapulco, 

and was German, Mexican-Indian, and Spanish.

  

Anita Alejandra Focke Neumann Lloyd,

grew up in Honolulu, and Robert Louis Stevenson
wrote a poem about her

when he saw her at one of King Kalakaua’s balls.

Evanita was the oldest of three children. . . 

She attended the Valley School
and Punahou School
(President Obama's school). . . .

After her graduation, her grandmother planned to

take her to Europe for a year before college,

but World War II broke out in Europe,

so she spent a year at, a boarding school in

Massachusetts, before attending Vassar.

She spent two years at Vassar before
the Pearl Harbor bombing in 1941,

and immediately came home to Hawaii

after the attack. (When so many others
were leaving as fast as they could. cloudia)

She served in the WARD

(Women’s Air Raid Defense).

Due to her father’s Navy connections,

her family home

became an unofficial place where

Navy officers were welcomed.

She had an active social life,

and was asked for her hand in marriage

several times.

She married Robert Richards Midkiff in 1948,

a fourth-generation descendant of missionaries

on his mother’s side. . . 

She was a passionate and articulate community

volunteer. When her Kahala house burned

to the ground in 1970,

she supervised the rebuilding of a lovely

new home in the same spot. 

She wrote about her unpleasant experience

with the insurance company

in a Honolulu magazine article,

“Your House Burns Down 

– and Where’s Your Friendly Insurance Man?”.

Later, when a friend died of lung cancer, 

she wrote another article,

“Death Begins at 40″ for the same publication.

When she attended a Rolling Stones concert
 she wrote a funny article called

 “It’s Only Rock and Roll”.

 Writing came easily to her.

She was glamorous and independent,

and her photograph appeared many times

in various publications.

She danced hula, and danced a wonderful

“Makee Ailana” and “Papalina Lahilahi”. . . .

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations

be made in her name to the Daughters of Hawaii

2913 Pali Highway, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817

or to Punahou School, 1601 Punahou Street,

Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822, for the Robert R. ’38

and Evanita S. ’39 Midkiff Endowed Fund

to support Early Childhood Education,

or to any charity of your choice.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday,

 March 19, 2011 at St. Andrew’s Cathedral,

 229 Queen Emma Square, 96813