Samuel Kai‘ali‘ili‘i Kamaka Jr., patriarch of Kamaka Ukulele Inc. for more than a half-century, died March 15 at his Honolulu residence. Born June 18, 1922, he was three months away from what would have been his 100th birthday.
Kamaka Ukulele Inc., the oldest ukulele manufacturing company in Hawaii, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Sam Kamaka and his younger brother, Frederick, began helping their father, founder of what was originally the Kamaka Ukulele and Guitar Works, when they were still in elementary school. The company was renamed Kamaka and Sons Enterprises, but the brothers were drafted for military service and then continued their education on the GI Bill.
Sam Kamaka was completing the degree requirements for a doctorate in entomology at Oregon State University when he learned that Sam Sr. was terminally ill. He returned home to help his father and then set aside his career plans to take charge of the company after Sam Sr. died in December 1953.
In 1959, Kamaka moved the company to its current location, 550 South St. His brother, Fred Kamaka Sr., joined the company as general manager in 1972. As years passed, Sam’s sons, Casey and Chris, and nephew Fred Kamaka Jr., also took on major roles in the company: Chris as the production manager, Casey as the craftsman for custom orders and Fred Jr. as the company business manager.
Chris Kamaka remembered his father as a man who always enjoyed making an ukulele at work and doing yardwork at home.
“He loved being out in the yard and planting and stuff, and he got me into it, too. That’s the place that I can really relax, being outside and working out there,” he said Friday at the Kamaka factory. “And here he taught me a lot about patience, humility. He was very humble.”
Fred Jr. described his uncle as a man who was always happy.
“By the time I started, he was mostly doing repairs. I’d be working in the front with my dad, and what I remember about him, he was always happy. That was his personality and he really loved his work. He loved working on ukuleles. It was not monotonous for him. He just loved doing it,” he said. “And so that’s why he was always in a good mood. He loved his work.
“People would come in to talk to him. (Singer-songwriter) Andy Cummings would stop by and sit with him while he was working on his ukuleles. And they would just talk, and Andy was trying out new chords, ‘Listen to this! Listen to this! Sam, what do you think about this?’ Those are some of the fondest memories I have.”
He added that his uncle’s greatest contribution to the business was the personal sacrifice he made to keep it going.
“Without his sacrifice this company wouldn’t be here. He was the one who kept it going. He didn’t have to. He had other plans — he was working on his Ph.D. and planning to work for the Forestry Service — but he decided to sacrifice and try to keep the company going. Without him we wouldn’t be here,” Kamaka said.
Sam Kamaka is survived by sons Chris, Casey and Kelly; daughters Catherine, Polly, Malia and Jenny; brother Fred Sr.; and numerous nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Memorial services are pending.
