Kailua Obituary Search
A Kailua obituary covers a death on the Windward side of Oahu, between the Koolau Range and the sea. Kailua shares funeral and burial resources with nearby Kaneohe, and the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park is the main cemetery for many Kailua families. Castle Medical Center is the closest hospital. This page shows where to look up a Kailua obituary, how to ask for a state death certificate, which cemeteries and mortuaries hold burial data for Windward Oahu, and what online tools cover old death records for this part of the island.
Kailua Overview
Kailua Death Certificates
The state issues every Kailua death certificate from one office. The Hawaii State Department of Health, Office of Health Status Monitoring is at 1250 Punchbowl Street, Room 103, in downtown Honolulu. Kailua is a 25-minute drive over the Pali Highway. Hours run Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. You can mail a request to P.O. Box 3378, Honolulu, HI 96801, or drop off a request in person.
The first copy of a death record is $10. Each extra copy of the same record is $4. Orders up to five copies pay a $2.50 admin fee. Orders of six to ten pay $5. A letter of verification under HRS §338-14.3 costs $5 and confirms the event on file. Full access to a Kailua death certificate is limited under HRS §338-18 to a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or named legal rep with a direct interest.
Most mail orders come back in six to eight weeks. Kailua residents can also use the state VitRec portal to place an online order for home delivery.
Note: A valid photo ID is required to pick up a Kailua death certificate in person, so bring a driver's license or state ID to the Punchbowl office.
Castle Medical Center in Kailua
Most Kailua deaths that occur in a hospital happen at the main Windward Oahu hospital. The Castle Medical Center is a 160-bed hospital in Kailua. The hospital is part of Adventist Health Castle and offers emergency care, surgery, cancer care, and full family medicine. The hospital serves all of Windward Oahu, from Kailua and Kaneohe up the coast to Waimanalo and Hauula.
Castle Medical Center is the main hospital for Kailua residents, as described on the Castle Medical Center site.
When a death happens at the hospital, the attending physician files the death record with the state through the mortuary the family picks.
Sudden or unexpected Kailua deaths are sent to the Honolulu County Medical Examiner at 835 Iwilei Road in Honolulu. The ME's office covers all of Oahu. Families can call (808) 768-3090 for case status.
Kailua Historical Society Records
The Kailua Historical Society is the main local group for family history and obituary research in Kailua. The society preserves photos, letters, and stories from old Kailua. It also hosts talks and walks that touch on the history of Kailua families and the local cemeteries. The society is a good first stop for a family with deep roots on the Windward side.
Local family research often starts with the historical society, as listed on the Kailua Historical Society site.
The society can often help locate an old photo of a family member and link it to a Kailua obituary or a local cemetery plot.
The Kailua Public Library is another free local tool. The branch offers Ancestry Library Edition and free public WiFi. For older deaths, the BYU-Hawaii Joseph F. Smith Library hosts a free archive of obituaries from the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Current notices run in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Kailua Cemeteries and Burial Records
The main cemetery for many Kailua families is the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park in nearby Kaneohe. The park sits at the foot of the Koolau Range. It holds both in-ground plots and a columbarium for ashes. The park's Byodo-In Temple is a replica of the 950-year-old temple in Uji, Japan. Staff at the park can help a family trace a burial by name, and the office keeps a map of the grounds.
Another Windward burial option is the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery at 45-349 Kamehameha Highway in Kaneohe. The cemetery holds 16,064 burials of veterans and their eligible family members. The site is run by the state Office of Veterans Services. Most Kailua veterans who did not choose Punchbowl are buried here. The grounds are open to the public for visits.
Kailua families also use smaller mortuary-linked graveyards and private family plots. Hosoi Garden Mortuary in Honolulu serves many Kailua families. You can read current obituary notices on the Hosoi Garden Mortuary site. The mortuary keeps a searchable obituary list that updates with each new service.
Burial options for a Kailua obituary include:
- Valley of the Temples Memorial Park in Kaneohe
- Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe
- National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl
- Mililani Memorial Park in Waipahu
- Private family plots and ash scatter at sea
Windward Community College Death Records Guide
The Windward Community College Death Records Guide is a free online guide for Hawaii death records. The library staff built the guide for students in the HWST 115 course, but it is open to the public. The guide covers death certificates, obituaries, probate files, and cemetery indexes. It is a clear, step-by-step tool for a Kailua family that wants to start a full records search on the Windward side.
The Windward Community College guide is a trusted free online resource for a Kailua obituary search, as shown at the Windward Community College death records guide.
The guide links out to the state Department of Health, the BYU-Hawaii archive, Ulukau, and the main state library tools.
Kailua Newspaper Obituaries
Daily obituaries for Kailua run in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. You can read the current page at obits.staradvertiser.com. Each entry lists the full name, age, community, date of death, birth details, list of survivors, service time, and the mortuary in charge. Many Kailua notices list a service at Valley of the Temples or at Hosoi Garden Mortuary.
Older Kailua obituaries can be found through the BYU-Hawaii archive. The archive covers the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin before the 2010 merger. Names in all caps came from the Advertiser. Mixed case came from the Star-Bulletin. Search by name and date to find the right notice.
For a deeper search that reaches back into the kingdom era, the Hawaii State Archives Obituary Index covers deaths from 1836 to 1950. The index is free to search. The index also lists English-language papers in Honolulu that once printed Windward obituaries.
Note: A Kailua obituary in the Star-Advertiser often links to a service on the Windward side, so double-check the service place and time before driving over the Pali.
Nearby Oahu Cities for Obituary Searches
Kailua shares funeral homes, cemeteries, and library tools with nearby Oahu towns. Try these other city pages for more leads.