Maui mourns loss of Calvin Pardee Erdman Jr., ʻUlupalakua Ranch owner and community leader

Calvin Pardee Erdman Jr., known to all as “Pardee,” of ʻUlupalakua, Maui, passed away on Nov. 7, 2026, at the age of 94. Born on Nov. 13, 1931 in Pasadena, CA., the son of Calvin Pardee Erdman and Eleanor Donnelley Erdman. He was an avid supporter and member of the agricultural, environmental, educational and general society of Maui.

A graduate of Phillips Academy Andover and Princeton University, where he was captain of the rugby team. Pardee was a petroleum geologist by training and served in the United States Marine Corps. 

In 1963 he purchased ʻUlupalakua Ranch, and over the following decades he experimented with various crops and livestock, turning the cattle ranch into a diversified operation. In 1974 he partnered to plant vineyards and build a winery, an effort that gave rise to what is now MauiWine. He also helped found a local chapter of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, sharing his love of fine food and good company with the island.

Pardee was a committed steward of the land. He played a role, alongside Laurance Rockefeller, in bringing the Pools of ʻOheʻo at Kīpahulu into Haleakalā National Park. Under his ownership, ʻUlupalakua Ranch worked with Dr. Art Merderios to reverse decades of forest degradation and plant more than 125,000 native trees. In 2009 he and his family placed more than 11,000 acres under an agricultural conservation easement, then the largest in the state’s history, permanently protecting its working agricultural lands, wildlife habitat, and native dryland forest from development. He was named a Maui Legacy Farmer in 2016 and received the Maui ʻAipono Icon Award in 2018.

Pardee believed deeply in education and young people. He and his late wife Betsy have long been involved with and were benefactors of Seabury Hall and other educational institutions. In 2018, he established ʻUlupalakua Scholarship Funds at Seabury Hall and the University of Puget Sound. Pardee also hosted the “ʻUlupalakua Thing” at the ranch for 12 years, an event devoted to agriculture that raised funds for the culinary school at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, the 4-H Club, and the Maui County Farm Bureau.

Pardee was also a generous patron of sports. He sponsored an annual rugby tournament on the island and supported the Maui Rugby Union and its youth teams. He was title sponsor of the Hawaiʻi State Junior Golf Association’s year-end Tournament of Champions for several years.He also helped to sponsor many tournaments and trips for Maui baseball, soccer, volleyball and various other sports teams. An avid golfer, he was a member of Maui Country Club, Augusta National Golf Club, Cypress Point Club, Burlingame Country Club, and the Mākena Golf and Beach Club.

He is survived by his son Christian, daughter in-law Jacqueline, son Sumner, daughter in-law Angie, grandchildren, Mackenzie, Danielle, grand son in-law Alastair, Camille, stepson Rody Davenport, step-grandchildren Melinda and Jay, stepdaughter Lisa Davenport, step grandchildren Jason and Mary. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Betsy.

A combined remembrance party C. Pardee Erdman and Betsy S. Erdman will be announced at a future date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Hospice Maui, Maui Rugby or the ʻUlupalakua Scholarship Fund at Seabury Hall in Pardee’s memory.