Our History: A Path to Service

 During the persecution of Catholics in Hawaii (circa 1849), many natives fled from Honolulu over the Pali trail to the windward side and settled in 

the Koolau area. Father Robert Walsh, SS.CC. (Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the same community as that of Father 

Damien of Molokai) began ministering to the Catholics. In 1841, Father Robert Martial Janvier, SS.CC. replaced Fr. Walsh and centered the 

mission in the Heeia area. Parish tradition has it that a village chief had gone to a Protestant Missionary asking for lamp oil. The missionary 

could not give him any oil. The chief then went to the Catholic mission (at that time located at Mokapu Point) and received his oil. 

In gratitude, the chief gave the missionaries a piece of property.

In the Church's very beginning in 1841, the missionaries established classes for the children in the district. At first, these classes were instructions about the Catholic faith; very quickly they included reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography. In 1871, a boarding school was established for eight boys by Fr. Mattias Limburg, SS.CC. The following year, 1872, a regular day school was started for boys and girls. The McCabe family was instrumental in running the school until the arrival of the Maryknoll Sisters in 1927. 

In 1960, St. Ann's School extended its curriculum to include a high school for young women. The high school closed in 1969. Twenty years later, in 1989, the Early Learning Center opened in the renovated building once used for the high school. In 1988, the administration of St. Ann's School saw the need to provide quality child care coupled with an opportunity to prepare younger children for our own kindergarten. Thus, on September 11, 1989, the ELC was opened and established itself as the feeder to the school.  In 2021, both the school and the ELC closed their doors. However, the St. Ann Church parish still thrives.