LIHU‘E — Francisca Santos will be celebrating her life today once again, for the 101st time. And she is still singing. “Two weeks ago was singing at the care home — in English and in Illocano,” said Lucy Kaholokula, Santos’
LIHU‘E — Francisca Santos will be celebrating her life today once again, for the 101st time. And she is still singing.
“Two weeks ago was singing at the care home — in English and in Illocano,” said Lucy Kaholokula, Santos’ daughter.
Kaholokula said her mother sang for her friends, “You are my sunshine” and “I’m in the mood for love,” a song that Santos’ husband used to sing for her.
The long-time Koloa resident was born March 7, 1912, in the Philippines. She and her husband, Ruperto Santos, along with four children, moved to Kaua‘i in 1946, under the guidance of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association. Their fifth and youngest son, Richard “Dickie” Santos, was born on Kaua‘i.
“I exercise and take lots of vitamins, especially vitamin D for strong bones,” Santos told a family member last year, following her 100th birthday celebration, which attracted more than 125 family and friends from the islands and from the Mainland.
Ruperto Santos died in 1976, after 43 years of marriage to Francisca Santos.
Kaholokula said her parents used to have very active social life. Her father helped a lot of people to study for citizenship exams, and her mother volunteered at schools.
“They were very welcoming people,” said Kaholokula of her parents, adding that a lot of workers who came from the Philippines didn’t have families and would gather at her house on the weekends.
Santos now moves around on a wheel chair, but up until a few years ago was still an active walker.
“She walked until she was 97,” said Kaholokula, adding that her mother used to take the bus to go to senior citizen centers on Kaua‘i to exercise.
Santos’ youth secret was that she liked to help people, walked a lot and kept herself active physically and spiritually, according to her daughter.
Santos has 18 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren, and almost all of them were able to make the trip to Kaua‘i for her birthday celebration last year.
But getting her large family together on Kaua‘i wasn’t an easy task. Santos’ birthday celebration took place months after her birthday, in July, with a gathering at Koloa Neighborhood Center.
Santos went along with the festivities and sang several of her favorite Filipino songs, with the help of old friends, according to a family member.
This year, Santos’ celebration will be a bit smaller. Kaholokula said her sister and her niece will be here from the Mainland for the celebration.
“She loves to eat,” Kaholokula said of her mother.
Unfortunately, there won’t be any ice cream — some of the folks at Santos’ care home have to stay away from cholesterol-laden foods, Kaholokula said.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0452 or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
