Welcome to our Ohana’s website. 
 NOTE: The information you see on this page as well as the genealogy on this website was taken from the 1st and 2nd  publication of the Ah Yo Ohana Genealogy book and will be repeated here. Updates will continue indefinitely. If you see any mistakes, please message me with correct info at acwardell2458@gmail.com. Mahalo.

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 We are the descendants of Chang Yuk Ah Yo and Helen Lai Kealoha Kaihumua.

Chang Yuk was born about 1860 in Tengzhou, Shandong, China. According to the 1920 Census, he arrived in Hawaii in  1879 at the age of 19. There have been many variations for the spelling of his name, depending on what documents you  review: "Chong Yuke", "Chang Yuk", "Cheung Yuk", "Cheng Yuk", etc.  For the purpose of consistency writing, his name will be spelled Chang Yuk. His last name also has variations, the two most  commonly used are "Ah Yo" (sometimes spelled without the the space)  and "Aio". Chang Yuk married Helen Lai Kealoha Kaihumua in Hilo, Hawaii on Jan. 21, 1889. She was born in 1873. A marriage certificate  from the Hawaii State Archives shows that Chang Yuke (pake) married Lai in Hilo. Chang and Helen had 12 children: Andrew,  Gabriel, Julia, Mary, Elizabeth, Gilbert, Katherine, Annie, Josephine, Ah Lai, Cecilia and Edna. Little is known about Ah Lai.  Since Ah Lai is only mentioned in the 1910 Census, it is presumed that she died during early childhood.

On initial research we believe Helen's (Lai) birth parents were, Nahoolowaa Kaiwi and Soloman Kaihumua. They had nine  children; Manoa, Ka Ainoa, Maeha, Kaapuni, Kaaua, David, Kuahine, Kaiwi and Lai. Kamaka Halemano Ehu and Keliipapohaku  lived in the same area as the Kaihumua family, so it is suspected that they were good friends. It is also suspected that they  gave Helen to Kamaka Haleman Ehu and his wife Keliipapohaku to take care of (hanai) as their own as they did not have any  children. The 1910 Census shows that Kamaka and Keliipapohaku married in 1883 (ten years after Lai was born). This was the  second marriage for both of them and the Census shows that Keliipapohaku had no children of her own. Helen Lai Kealoha  Kaihumua was their only child.

Though Helen was a housewife and mother, she was also a supporter of the "PALAPALA HOOPII KUE HOOHUIAINA" (Petition  against Annexation). She along with hundreds of Hawaiians signed this petition as they were not in favor of breaking up the  Kingdom of Hawaii and becoming a Territory of the United States of America. But that was history. The petition was not  passed and as a result, Hawaii informally became a Territory of the United States of America on July 7, 1898. However the  formal transfer did not take place until August 12, 1898 and later became the 50th State of the United States of America on  August 21, 1959.

The 1920 Census shows that the family of Chang Yuk and Helen Lai Kealoha Kaihumua lived on Hakalau Iki Homestead Rd  in Hakalau,Hawaii. Chang Yuk was a farmer at the Hilo sugar plantation. The children living with them at the time were  Katherine, Gilbert, Annie, Josephine, Cecilia and Edna. Their other children, Andrew, Gabriel, Julia, Mary and Elizabeth lived  elsewhere.

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 Genealogy Book Introduction - 2nd publication:
 It took a lot of data gathering, verification and research. Responsible for this effort are Dennis H. Ah Yo, his wife Debbie and  Cathy Vincent Ah Yo.
 However, these individuals also contributed valuable input for the individual introductions of Chang Yuk and Helen Lai Kealoha  Kaihumua Ah Yo's children from Addie Ah Yo, Marilyn Ah yo, Nick Ah Yo, Cecelia Torres, Matthew Kamelamela, Dora Aio  Lemans, Evelyn Keliihoomalu, Edna Hanuna, Patrick Sniffen, Peter Martin and Ruth Chu. Mahalo plenty for your support. We have been fortunate to be able to spend time at the Hawaii State Archives and the Hawaii State Library, requesting as  many documents from the Vital Records in Honolulu as we could get. The more information we get, the more excited we are  about discovering our family. There are many sources available online and we know we haven't looked at all of them yet.  Ohana Research is ongoing.
 Since there are over 2000 descendants listed, there will probably be some errors, so please bear with us. If you have any  questions, thoughts, updates or corrections, please feel free to contact Cathy at hawainmom1969@gmail.com

Aloha for now, Dennis H. Ah Yo, Debbie Ah Yo and Cathy Vincent Ah Yo.

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 I would like to express my sincere thank you to Dennis, Debbie and Cathy as well as all individuals who have contributed  information to create our genealogy. This takes allot of dedication and time keeping up with the endless updates. It is my hope that this valuable information will be passed on from generation to generation. Your help and participation to  keep this information current is much appreciated.

Mahalo,

Alana Rapoza-WARDELL 

acwardell2458@gmail.com