Living Treasure of Hawaiʻi, ceramicist Enomoto of Maui dies at 78 

Edmund M.K. Enomoto of Kula, Maui, died Aug. 3, 2024, at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center. He was 78.

Enomoto was born Jan. 16, 1946, at Puʻunēnē. He graduated from Holy Rosary School in Pāʻia, the Kamehameha School for Boys and the California College of Arts & Crafts, and held a teaching certificate from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

He was stationed as an Army illustrator at Fort Knox, KY, where he won the first annual Armed Forces Art Show. He became art director for Kaizawa Advertising; then a freelance artist associated with the Hawaiʻi Potters Guild. He retired from St. Andrew’s Priory School, where he had served as art-department head and athletic director, and also from King Kekaulike High School, where he taught ceramics, drawing and painting.

He was named a Living Treasure of Hawaiʻi by the Honda Hongwanji Mission of Hawaiʻi as a ceramicist in 1987 at the age of 41, one of the youngest ever to receive that accolade.

An avid heʻe free diver, he was founding head coach of the former Mullets Volleyball Club, and co-founded Hawaiian Canoe Club’s recreational paddling program.

He is survived by wife Kekoa Enomoto (retired Honolulu Star-Bulletin staff writer, copy editor and columnist); daughter Elisabeth Lehua Enomoto; son Edmund Honu Enomoto; a brother, Andrew Enomoto, and granddaughter Kamalani Hue Enomoto.

Services will be held Monday, Aug. 12, at Ballard Family Mortuary in Kahului, with public viewing at 9 a.m. and a service at 10 a.m., followed by a reception. Burial will be 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, at Maui Veterans Cemetery in Makawao.