Former kindergarten teacher, 93, found dead as Hawaii residents clean up after storm

A beloved former kindergarten teacher, May Doi, who taught generations of residents in a small town on Hawaii’s Big Island was among the two deaths authorities blamed on a hurricane Lala.

HONOLULU — A beloved former kindergarten teacher who taught generations of residents in a small town on Hawaii’s Big Island was among the two deaths authorities blamed on a hurricane that lashed the state over the weekend with heavy rain and strong winds.

May Doi, 93, was found dead Monday after she was reported missing, police said. Neighbors think she was escaping floodwaters in her home and trying to get to a nearby shelter, said ʻĀina Akamu, a former student of Doi’s who is now a vice principal at a local school.

She taught for so long at Naalehu Elementary on the island’s southern tip that “Mrs. Doi was my dad’s kindergarten teacher,” Akamu said Wednesday.

“She taught grandkids of her students,” he said. “She was a fixture in this community.”

Akamu often saw her taking walks around the small, rural, sugar plantation-era town: “She was so strong.”