‘Small in stature, huge in presence’: Maui bids aloha to Council Member Tasha Kama

Tears, laughter and the soaring voices of 31 grandchildren filled the Castle Theater on Wednesday morning to celebrate a life of love, service and faith as Maui bid farewell to Maui County Council Member Natalie “Tasha” Kama.

Community members, government officials and family gathered not just to honor a four-term council member, but to remember a pastor, dedicated community advocate and matriarch who brought “grace, kindness, and humility” to the often contentious arena of politics.

Kama, who held the Council’s Kahului residency seat, died on Oct. 26 at Maui Memorial Medical Center surrounded by family. She was 73.

Some of the memorial service’s most poignant, “chicken skin” moments came from the loving memories shared by Kama’s grandchildren. Her 31 grandchildren — her moʻopuna — recalled fond memories of grandma, sang and danced hula.

They said their grandmother taught them about love, family, commitment, showing up and playing poker. Importantly, “Jesus was at the forefront,” one said. “She never wavered from her faith.”

Kama was a senior pastor of the Christian Ministry Church and served as a social justice organizer with Faith Action for Community Equity Maui. A number of those who honored her life recalled Holy Scripture, specifically a quote attributed to the Apostle Paul in the New Testament (2 Timothy 4:7): “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Maui County Council Chair Alice Lee said those are “beautiful words that truly describe Tasha Kama, and she did it all with grace, kindness and humility that’s very unique in today’s world.”

“Today’s world tends to be combative and disrespectful at times, but she never steered away from her core values,” she said.

Lee shared a lighthearted memory of her final conversations with Kama, who asked the chair to “take care of our chickadees” — her affectionate term for their fellow council members.

“They can be a feisty bunch at times, and she knew it,” Lee said. “But unlike us, she was so calm and so loving and so giving.”

A life of service

Kama was born on Aug. 14, 1952, at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu to the Rev. Clarence Kamai and his wife, Ruth. She was a 1970 graduate of Kalani High School. The family moved to Maui in 1983. She earned her associate degree in science in human services in 2015.

Before entering political office in 2019, she was a longtime community organizer, serving as a pastor with The Christian Ministry Church, a president of the Keokea Hawaiian Homes Association, and an organizer with Faith Action for Community Equity Maui.

Mayor Richard Bissen noted that Kama’s work began long before she took an oath of office.

“She didn’t wait for a title to make a difference. She simply lived her values,” Bissen said. “She believed deeply in the restoration of people, of families… What I admire most about Tasha was her unwavering belief that every person can rise. She never gave up on anyone.”

“Her strength came from her faith, and her lived experience, and her compassion came from her ʻohana, her patience, and her deep understanding, her understanding of hardship, of resilience, and of the human spirit’s capacity to heal,” he said.

Bissen described Kama as “small in stature, huge in presence,” highlighting her ability to gauge the “temperature in the room” and guide heated government debates back to focus on the community.

He also shared a private moment from Kama’s final hours. Bissen recalled playing the ʻukulele for her while she sang along in a soft voice.

“In that moment, which I will cherish, she simply said, ‘Rick, keep on keeping on,’” Bissen said.

Champion for the vulnerable

State officials emphasized Kama’s specific policy passions: affordable housing, homelessness, and Native Hawaiian homelands.

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke fought back tears as she recalled working with Kama on Hawaiian homelands issues. She described Kama as a leader who would “cry hard” for people who weren’t getting the help they needed.

“For a person who got an award (of homestead land), she would have tears in her eyes,” Luke said. “She knew who she served. She served God, but she also served the people.”

Central Maui State Sen. Troy Hashimoto remembered Kama as his “true partner” on housing issues. He also recalled her earlier days as a fixture at Democratic Party rallies, where she was the “go-to person” for invocations.

“I’ll never forget the time someone called me to complain that her invocation was too religious,” Hashimoto said. “I smiled, because that was Tasha. Unapologetically passionate, grounded in her beliefs, and never afraid to speak from the heart.”

Legacy and Succession

Kama is survived by 10 children, 31 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

For those gathered at the Castle Theater on Wednesday, the focus remained on the personal loss of a beloved friend who viewed leadership as an extension of her faith.

“She really missed her parents, and she talked about them all the time to me,” Lee said, envisioning Kama’s arrival in heaven. “Hopefully she’s up there, and they are having a good time talking to everybody.”

While the community mourns, the work of the Council continues. A special Maui County Council meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday to select Kama’s successor for the remainder of the 2025-26 term of the Kahului residency seat.

Kama was a member of the Council’s five-member majority. Her loss means the Council is evenly divided 4-4. She chaired the Housing and Land Use Committee and served as presiding officer pro tempore.

The Council recently adopted a process to select a successor to complete the remainder of her term, which ends in early 2027.

The three nominees are Virgilio “Leo” R. Agcolicol, self-nominated; Kelson Kauanoe Batangan, nominated by Council Member Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins; and Carol Lee Kamekona, nominated by Council Member Shane Sinenci.