Esther Kon Char Ching married at 16 to Andrew Byan Chang. Andrew's family was from Niuli'i in North Kohala on the 'Big Island' of Hawaii. Esther and Andrew had 4 children, three girls and one boy and lived on School Street near the Lanakila community area of Honolulu. Unfortunately, her husband Andrew died quite young in life. He rests at a small Chinese Christian Cemetery in the Pauoa community not far from School Street and downtown Honolulu.


Esther ran a small neighborhood fountain and restaurant in Pearl City near Pearl Harbor about 12 miles from Honolulu. Prior to owning her diner, Esther worked as a cook at Waimano Home. I guess this is where Esther may have honed her cooking and baking skills before opening her own restaurant.

In the book, "Where Pearls Flourished, Mo'olelo O Manana, The Story of Pearl City," published as a Pearl City History Project, there is a brief passage about the diner . . . "Esther's Diner was adjacent to the Pearl City Theatre. It was a little diner that had a soda fountain, counter, and even a juke box (the building stood at 903 Lehua and Second Street). While attending Waipahu High School (the only school in the Leeward District at the time), the bus would drop us off at the end of Lehua Avenue and we would walk up to the diner for a cherry coke and a few songs on the juke box. I even remember playing Frank Sinatra's "Young at Heart". . .

Esther's restaurant served a mix of fast food and dine-in meals and had many snack items for sale. One favorite item according to a Honolulu cousin was frozen and flavored ice cakes with a 'li hing mui' (preserved Chinese dried plum) in the middle. I imagine it was a great treat for most kids at any time of the day. Aside from being Esther's business location, the restaurant also served as simple living quarters for her and her mother in a humble setting behind the kitchen area. Here Esther was able to relax after a long day of work in the company of her mother Ah Keau who had returned to the U.S. Territory of Hawaii in 1952 after residing in China for many years.

During her life, Esther lived at various places around Oahu from the Lanakila neighborhood on School Street to the 'Peninsula' Kirkbride Avenue area near Pearl Harbor. She resided for a time at her daughter's summer home on Kaneohe Bay on the eastern shore of Oahu after she retired from her restaurant. Here I recall the wonderful view of Coconut Island nestled in Kaneohe Bay from the living room window that overlooked the bay when I would often visit Esther and grandmother as a kid on trips with my parents. What an incredible place to experience. Esther's last residence and home with her mother was in central Oahu in upper Wahiawa on California Avenue. I recall the tranquility of the place. On a cool and overcast day the mist would drift in across the road from her home which was adjacent to forested woodland; something which is hard to forget just like Esther was. She was easy to like and to know and much admired by family and friends. She was truly as wonderful a person as you would ever want to meet . . and also quite generous with her ice cakes too. (by Dennis Ching)