Find Obituary in Hawaii County

A Hawaii County obituary covers a death on the Big Island, the largest island in the state. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald prints daily obituaries in Hilo, and the Hawaii District Health Office on Aupuni Street helps families with death records. Dodo Mortuary, Homelani Memorial Park, and Ballard Family Mortuary handle most services in East Hawaii. This page shows you where to search an obituary in Hawaii County, how to order a death certificate through the island office, and which local funeral homes and libraries hold records for the Big Island.

Hawaii County Obituary Office Locations

The Hawaii District Health Office serves the Big Island with two offices. The Hilo office is at 75 Aupuni Street, Suite 201, Hilo, HI 96720. Call (808) 974-6008. The Kamuela office is at 67-5189 Kamamalu Street, Kamuela, HI 96743. Call (808) 887-8114. Kamuela offers pick-up service on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. by appointment only.

All orders for a certified Hawaii County death certificate must be placed and paid online at vitrec.ehawaii.gov before you schedule a pick-up. The Big Island District Health Office page has the full list of services, including Voluntary Establishment of Paternity and home birth registration.

Death certificates themselves are issued only on Oahu by the Office of Health Status Monitoring. The Big Island office can help with forms, but the full record comes from the state vital records site. The fee is $10 for the first copy and $4 for each extra copy of the same death record, plus a $2.50 admin fee. Access is restricted under HRS §338-18.

The district office image below shows where Big Island residents pick up online orders and submit local vital records paperwork.

Learn more about district services at the Hawaii District Health Office.

Office hours run 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. under County of Hawaii standard hours.

Hawaii County Clerk and Courthouse

The Hawaii County Clerk is at 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1402, Hilo, HI 96720. Call (808) 961-8255 or email clerk-council@hawaiicounty.gov. The Clerk does not hold birth, death, marriage, or divorce records. Those come from the state Department of Health. Land documents run through the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances at (808) 587-0147.

The Hawaii County Courthouse is at 777 Kilauea Avenue, Hilo, HI 96720. Call (808) 961-7440. The Third Circuit Court handles probate, which turns many Hawaii County obituary searches into public records. The Third Circuit Elections Division sits at 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1502, Hilo, HI 96720. Call (808) 961-8277. Kona residents can reach the Kona branch at 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building D, first floor, Kailua-Kona. Call (808) 323-4400.

Probate records for the Third Circuit can be searched through the Hawaii State Judiciary's eCourt Kokua system. Ulukau also hosts a Deaths-Probates Index for the Third Circuit that covers historical Big Island estates, including Deaths-Probates Minute Books for the Third and Fourth Circuits.

Hawaii County Newspaper Obituaries

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald is the Big Island's paper of record for obituaries. Based in Hilo, the Tribune-Herald posts current obituaries daily at hawaiitribune-herald.com/category/obituaries. Notices list the full name, age, city, date of death, place of death, birthplace, occupation, military service, and family survivors, plus the funeral home handling arrangements.

Sample obituaries show service venues including Dodo Mortuary Chapel, Homelani Memorial Park, St. Joseph Catholic Church, and Haili Tent in Panaewa.

Historical Big Island obituaries live in indexes at the University of Hawaii at Hilo's Edwin H. Mookini Library. Call the information desk at (808) 932-7296. The Hawaiian Collection there is the largest circulating set in the state. The 1984 and 1988 Hawaii Island Newspaper Index covers news from the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Honolulu Advertiser, and Honolulu Star-Bulletin. For 1999-2000 obituaries are filed under "Obituaries" and marriages under "Weddings and Emergencies."

The BYU-Hawaii obituary database also transcribes Hawaii Tribune-Herald notices from 1989 to 2013. You can search by surname. Some entries include Hawaiian language text with English translations.

Hawaii County Funeral Homes and Mortuaries

Homelani Memorial Park and Crematory is one of the main funeral homes in Hilo. The office is at 399 Ponahawai Street, Hilo, HI 96720. Call (808) 657-3257. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. Cemetery hours run 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The website at homelanimemorialpark.com lets families search obituaries by name and sign up for service notifications.

Homelani now offers full-service funerals including traditional classic burials, not just cremation.

Dodo Mortuary runs a chapel at 199 Wainaku Street, Hilo, HI 96720. The active calendar lists current visitations and services, often paired with burials at Homelani Memorial Park, Alae Cemetery, Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. 2, or Mauna Kea Memorial Park in Papaikou. Some Dodo services live-stream from the chapel so families overseas can watch.

Services often pass through St. Joseph Catholic Church, Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin, and Konko Mission of Hilo.

Ballard Family Mortuary also serves the Big Island from Hilo and Kailua-Kona. Most Ballard obituaries appear in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald and on the mortuary's site.

Big Island Hospital Records and Obituary Links

Many Hawaii County obituaries name Hilo Benioff Medical Center as the place of death. The 276-bed acute care hospital is the primary medical center for East Hawaii. Medical records run through the Health Information Management department, and death certificates file directly with the state Office of Health Status Monitoring.

North Hawaii Community Hospital serves the Waimea and North Kohala area. West Hawaii patients go to Kona Community Hospital. The Medical Records department is at (808) 322-0845 and the Medical Staff Services line is (808) 322-4581. Business hours run 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Requests for medical records take up to 10 days to process after the hospital receives a valid written authorization.

Record releases follow Hawaii law and limit what the hospital can share without written consent. There is no charge for release to physicians involved in care. You can request records for yourself or for a family member if you are the legal representative of the estate.

Hawaii County Libraries and Historical Archives

The Hilo Public Library is part of the Hawaii State Public Library System. Patrons can reach Ancestry Library Edition inside the branch for genealogy research. HeritageQuest Online is available from home with a library card. The library also holds microfilm of Hawaii Island newspapers for historical obituary searches.

Hilo librarians can help you find the right reel for a specific year of the Tribune-Herald or its earlier names.

West Hawaii researchers rely on the Kona Historical Society. Archives are by appointment only. Research fees are $65 per hour for members and $75 per hour for non-members. Collections include photographs, diaries, journals, family records, and land documents for the Kailua-Kona area.

The Kona Historical Society can help you trace a family back through Big Island ranches and coffee farms.

The Lyman Museum in Hilo holds the John Howard and Edward L. Davis Archives. Holdings include Rev. David and Sarah Lyman Papers from 1830s to 1885, missionary papers from 1823 to 1951, Hilo Boarding School Archives, Hamakua Sugar Company records, and Kohala Sugar Company records. Call ahead for an appointment.

The North Hawaii Education and Research Center Heritage Center at 45-539 Plumeria Street, Honokaa, holds plantation photos and paniolo ranching documents for the north side of the island. Coordinator Momi Naughton can help with research requests at (808) 775-8890.

Hawaii County Cities for Obituary Searches

The Big Island's main population centers each have their own local obituary data. Hilo is the main city on the east side, and Kailua-Kona on the west side.

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