Anne Kailakanoa Holt was known as an ambassador of aloha to the mainland. Holt
got the reputation during years of work for the Hawaii Visitor and Convention
Bureau. She died in San Francisco on May 25, 2000 after being struck by a delivery
truck. She was 71. A part-Hawaiian, Holt was born and raised in Honolulu, the sixth
of 10 children. She graduated from the University of Hawaii and worked as public
relations coordinator for the Visitors Bureau in 1958. Holt served as the bureau's
northeast regional manager in New York for years and was its northwest regional
manager in San Francisco from 1978 until her retirement in 1994. Keala Kam, her
sister, said being a goodwill ambassador for the islands suited Holt. "It was just part of
her inner feelings. ... That's her personality and beliefs." Holt worked and made
friends with many people in the travel industry and the media. The late San Francisco
columnist Herb Caen was among them. Even the young Peter Jennings was in love
with her and used to call when she was working in New York, joked nephew George
Kam, former owner of Local Motion. "She was the epitome of a Hawaii ambassador
on the mainland," said Sandra Albano, a former marketing director at Sheraton Hotels
who knew Holt more than 30 years. "It was very natural for her to exude the aloha
spirit. ... Everything about her was Hawaiian." Holt treasured her family and friends,
and was there when they needed help, George Kam said. "Her hobby was
entertaining," he said, and she would host parties and dinners just to get people
together. And not just travel industry people. Holt counted many people among her
friends. She ate at the best restaurants and gave the leftovers to homeless people. Kam recalled the time Holt took out to dinner a woman who was a gift-wrapper at a
department store. "She was just crying after that and telling me how special Auntie
Anne was," he said. "She saw greatness in everybody," he said. She was an elegant
woman, always well-dressed, Kam said. Though she never wore muumuus, Hawaii
was always in her heart. She represented the romance of the islands at a time when
Hawaii was just being opened up to travel from the mainland. "Everyone who has met
Anne Holt fell in love with her and Hawaii," said Stanley Hong, former president of
the Visitors Bureau and now president of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.
"Whenever I visited San Francisco, she would convince the manager of whatever
hotel I was at to fly the Hawaiian flag alongside the American flag," Hong recalled.
"She never missed an opportunity to promote Hawaii." Holt was unmarried and had
no children. She is survived by one brother and five sisters. Services are scheduled
Wednesday at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Queen Emma Square. Visitation will begin at
8:30 a.m., with the service starting at 10 a.m. The family requests casual attire and no
flowers. Holt was cremated in San Francisco and her ashes will be buried beside her
mother, Victoria Holt, at a private service in Oahu Cemetery at Nuuanu.