Honolulu County HI Archives Obituaries.....Damon, Mary Happer 1949
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/hi/hifiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
J. Orr jessicanorr@gmail.com February 16, 2012, 4:50 pm

Unknown newspaper, No date
MRS. MARY HAPPER DAMON, WIDELY KNOWN FOR WORK IN HAWAII, DIES AT 90

  Mrs. Mary Happer Damon, widow of the late Francis Williams Damon, widely 
known since the middle 1880s for her religious and philanthropic work here, 
died at 1 a.m. today at the home of her son, Cyril F. Damon, 2920 Nuuanu Ave.
  Her death brings to a close life that was filled with service to the Chinese 
people of the islands, and to many others.
  Mrs. Damon had been in failing health for several years, but the end came 
unexpectedly in her sleep.
  Graveside services will be held for members of the family only. It is 
requested that no flowers be sent.
  Mrs. Damon is survived by four children, Mrs. Frank L. Putman, (Violet 
Damon); Mrs. Luther Gadd, (Vera Damon); Cyril F. Damon, Miss Daphne M. Damon, 
and these grandchildren:
  Mrs. Henry B. Clark, Damon Gadd, Richard C. Damon, C. F. Damon, Jr., Gordon 
H. Damon.
  There are also two great grandchildren, Putman Damon Clark and Sefton 
Robinson Clark, the children of Mrs. Clark.
  BORN IN 1858
  Mrs. Damon was born near Pittsburgh, Pa., September 23, 1858 and would have 
been 91 years old on her next birthday anniversary.
  As an infant she was taken to China by her missionary patents, Mr. and Mrs. 
Andrew P. Happer, and she lived there until she was a young woman.
  Her parents were founders of the Chinese University of Canton, now Lingnan 
university, probably the largest educational institution in south China.
  Educated in the university compound from infancy, Mrs. Damon had a profound 
knowledge of the people with whom she lived and later worked.
  These teachings she brought with her later to Honolulu.
  It was in Canton that she met and married Francis Williams Damon, the son 
himself of Hawaii missionary parents, the Rev. and Mrs. Samuel Chenery Damon, 
who came to the islands as pioneers. He died in Honolulu June 22, 1915.
  The two young people became acquainted in 1883 when Mr. Damon stopped in 
Canton en route home from Berlin, where he had been charge d’affairs at the 
German imperial court, secretary and interpreter to the Hawaiian minister, 
Henry A. P. Carter.
  A lifetime of work
  He returned to Canton in 1884 and the marriage took place on May 1. Soon 
after they came to Honolulu, where both devoted their lives to church, 
missionary and educational work.
  Together, the Damons worked toward the founding of the First Chinese Church 
of Christ whose pagodas are a familiar landmark on south King St., across from 
McKinley high school.
  The Damon home on Chaplin land in 1892 was opened as a school in which 
Chinese boys were taught English. It later became the Mills school. Eventually 
is was combined with the Kawaiahao girls’ seminary and the Okumura school to 
become what is known now as the Mid-Pacific institute.
  It was the Damons who inspired the founding of the Free Kindergarten 
association here.
  For the last three years Mrs. Damon has lived with her son in Nuuanu.
  But from 1900 until that time, she had lived at the old home Mokumoa, near 
Moanalua.
  She was forced to leave the property in December of 1941 when the government 
took over the site.

Caption under picture: This picture of Mrs. Damon was taken in the early 1920s 
at a tea given in her honor by the Chinese community. Courtesy of Amos Chun, 
Star-Bulletin photographer.


Additional Comments:
Appears she died May 1949.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/honolulu/obits/damon205gob.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/hifiles/

File size: 3.9 Kb