A memorial service for Hiram Solomon Kano‘a deFries-Saronitman, one of two local men killed in a Dec. 17 plane crash near Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, will be held Saturday at his high school alma mater, Punahou School.
Kamaka Air pilots deFries-Saronitman, 24, and Preston Kaluhiwa, 26, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, were conducting training flights when they lost control of a single-turboprop Cessna Caravan shortly after takeoff and crashed into a vacant building on Ualena Street.
Born Nov. 1, 2000, on Oahu, deFries- Saronitman grew up in Papakolea, Kewalo and Kalawahine, according to information provided by his family. While at Punahou, he excelled in football and baseball. After graduating in 2020, he attended Saddleback College in California, where he was honored as a scholar-athlete, before returning to study at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
His family described him as a person of generosity, resilience and a deep commitment to his ohana and community. DeFries-Saronitman also was an avid fisherman who often shared his catch with family and friends.
“I always end up at the ocean, because the gracefulness of the ocean soothes and calms me,” he often remarked to his ohana.
In 2023, deFries-Saronitman fulfilled his dream of becoming a commercial pilot, earning his license in Little Falls, Minn. He returned to Hawaii to work for Kamaka Air delivering essential supplies to rural communities, including Kalaupapa, Kaunakakai and Lanai City.
DeFries-Saronitman is survived by his parents, Jed and Tamar; his sisters, Jemme and Alexis; his grandparents, Hiram and Trudi; and his fiance, Naleo Olokahi Faurot deFries-Saronitman.
The memorial service will begin with a welcome and “memory-sharing session” from 4 to 6 p.m. in Dole Cafeteria, followed by a procession to Thurston Chapel for a formal ceremony and services.
911 REPORT
Girl, 12, caught driving vehicle in Kapahulu
A 12-year-old girl was stopped by police in Kapahulu Saturday morning for apparently driving a motor vehicle without the owner’s permission.
Police arrested the child at 6:35 a.m. on suspicion of first-degree unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, a class C felony. She was later charged with the downgraded offense of second-degree unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, which is a misdemeanor.
Further details were not available.
Motorcycle passenger in fatal crash identified
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office has identified Oahu’s first traffic fatality of 2025 as Bethany Stucker, 21, of Kailua.
Stucker was a passenger on a motorcycle operated by a 22-year-old man, who received serious injuries in Thursday’s crash on Kamehameha Highway in Kaaawa. Police said the motorcycle was headed south at about 6:45 p.m. when it struck an SUV that was making a left turn from Makua Village Road onto the highway.
Police said speed, drugs or alcohol do not appear to be contributing factors in the collision.
