Kauai County Obituary Records
A Kauai County obituary covers a death on the Garden Island. The Garden Island newspaper has printed obituaries in Lihue for more than a century. The Kauai District Health Office at 3040 Umi Street helps families with vital records forms, and Kauai Memorial Gardens serves most families on the island. This page shows you where to search an obituary in Kauai County, how to request a death certificate through the local health office, and which archives hold historical Garden Island obituary data.
Kauai County Overview
Kauai County Obituary Vital Records Office
The Kauai District Health Office is at 3040 Umi Street, Lihue, HI 96766. Call (808) 241-3498. Office hours run 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office registers home births and issues permits for burials and cremations. Staff help with vital records forms, including Voluntary Establishment of Paternity and the process for obtaining a Hawaii death certificate.
The Kauai office can now issue birth and marriage certificates for orders placed online, but death certificates still come from the Oahu office only.
Orders for a Kauai obituary-linked death certificate are placed online at vitrec.ehawaii.gov. Processing runs about 14 business days once approved. Pick-up at the Lihue office is available if you choose the pick-up option when ordering. Cash and money orders are not accepted at the Kauai office.
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 to eligible family members under HRS §338-18. Letters of verification are available under HRS §338-14.3 for $5. Department of Health records for Kauai and Niihau go back to 1862.
Note: Only Kauai residents with a Kauai mailing address can have the Kauai office issue a certificate. Other requests must use mail or the Oahu office.
Kauai County Newspaper Obituaries
The Garden Island is Kauai's main local paper and has printed obituaries in Lihue for generations. Current obituaries post online with full service details, survivor listings, and biographical information. A typical entry names survivors, the mortuary, the church or temple, the service time, and the burial site.
A sample obituary read: "Rufina 'Ruth' Terrenal, 91, of Kapaa, Kauai, a retired nurse with Mahelona Hospital, died Tuesday in Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital."
Historical Garden Island obituaries live in a dedicated FamilySearch collection. The Garden Island Index from 1971 to 1980, published by the Kauai Library Association in 1987, indexes selected articles. Obituaries appear under the subject heading "Obituaries" or sometimes under the person's name. Microfilm of The Garden Island is held at Kauai libraries for research.
The Ulukau Hawaiian Electronic Library hosts the Deaths-Probates Index for the Fifth Circuit, which covers Kauai estates. The Deaths-Probates Minute Books for the Fifth Circuit are also indexed on Ulukau. These are free to search by keyword.
Kauai County Funeral Homes and Mortuaries
Kauai Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home is the primary funeral home serving the island. Staff answer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The website holds a current listing of obituaries with full names, dates of death, birth data, survivors, and service arrangements. A recent sample: "Virginia Remigio Tadena, 84, of Lihue passed away on February 8, 2026 at Wilcox Memorial Hospital."
Services are held at Garden Island Mortuary, Immaculate Conception Church, Kauai Memorial Gardens, and other local venues.
Garden Island Mortuary handles many funeral services on the island. Services are often paired with burial at Kauai Memorial Gardens or at the smaller cemeteries across Kauai. Kauai also has family plots tied to each town, from Hanalei on the north shore to Kekaha in the west.
Kauai Hospital Records and Obituary Context
Two hospitals serve most Kauai residents. Wilcox Medical Center is in Lihue off Kuhio Highway. Medical records run through the Kauai Medical Clinic and Wilcox Medical Center records office. Call (808) 245-1128 to request copies. The general information line is (808) 245-1254. Parking is open 24 hours a day.
Patients or their legal representatives can request records in writing with written authorization.
Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital is in Kapaa at 4800 Kawaihau Road. Call (808) 822-4961. The hospital is the oldest operating hospital on Kauai. It was founded in 1917 as a tuberculosis hospital and named for a member of the Wilcox family. Today the 80-bed facility provides acute care, inpatient psychiatric care, long-term care, and skilled nursing. Mahelona appears in many Kauai obituaries as the place of death.
The hospital runs 24-hour emergency service, staffed by board certified physicians.
Kauai County Historical Obituary Archives
Historical Kauai death records are available through the Digital Archives of Hawaii Kauai Death Records collection. File units cover 1907-1919 and 1909-1919. The records are browsable online through the Digital Archives of Hawaii portal.
The digital site protects records from loss, alteration, and deterioration so future researchers can access the same files.
The Kauai Historical Society is at the Historic County Building, 4396 Rice Street, Suite 101, Lihue, HI 96766. Call (808) 245-3373 or email nfo@kauaihistoricalsociety.org. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 pm. Archives are by appointment only. Staff can help with Kauai genealogy, including family lines tied to the sugar era.
The Historical Society keeps records on plantation families, missionary lines, and small villages around the Garden Island.
The USGenWeb Archives runs a free Island of Kauai Obituaries Index with alphabetical entries. Each record includes the name of the deceased, date of death, file size, and submitter. Volunteer transcriptions cover early 1900s through 2000s obituaries from The Garden Island.
This volunteer collection fills gaps in official records for families researching Kauai history.
Kauai County Libraries for Obituary Research
The Hawaii State Public Library System runs several branches on Kauai. Locations include the Lihue Public Library, Koloa Public Library at 4480 Waikomo Road, Kalaheo Public Library at 2-2526 Kaumualii Highway, Princeville Public Library, Hanapepe Public Library, and Kapaa Public Library. Each branch offers access to Ancestry Library Edition and newspaper microfilm.
Library card holders can use HeritageQuest Online from home. The BYU-Hawaii Obituary Database also includes Kauai Garden Island News obituaries from 1989 to 2013. You can search by year and last name on the BYU-Hawaii site. The 1836-1950 Index to obituaries published in Hawaii newspapers is on microfilm at the Hawaii and Pacific reference desk at the State Library in Honolulu, with copies available through interlibrary loan.
Kauai library branches also hold The Garden Island Index 1971-1980, which provides a subject index to obituaries and other articles from the local newspaper. The Kauai Library Association produced the volume as a community research tool.
Kauai County Towns for Obituary Searches
Kauai's population sits under 75,000, so only a few census-designated places hit our threshold. Lihue is the county seat, and Kapaa is the largest community on the east side.