VICKIE II

Victoria Kealiikaapunihonua Ii was born on November 14, 1912 to Agnes Luika Sylvester and James Keaoulilani Ii in Honolulu. Vickie was "hanai'd" (a Hawaiian custom of informal adoption) by her grandparents from birth, her grandmother a daughter of James and Fanny Purdy of the famed Parker Ranch in Kamuela, Hawaii.

Vicki was surrounded by singers. Her father and paternal grandfather were well known tenors and composers, and her maternal grandfather, Sylvester Kalama, was known as a Hawaiian vaudeville entertainer and composer of great renown in the Islands. Both grandfathers also collaborated on sever Hawaiian classics.

Theirs was a singing household. Vickie's grandfather prohibited the hula in his household; consequently, family gatherings and evening entertainment consisted of mele of old Hawaii. The teaching of these mele was rigorous and Vickie was tested each weekend on the ones she learned during the week. She accompanied herself on the guitar. In 1951, Mary K. Robinson convinced Vickie to write down all these mele. While attending McKinley High School, Vickie produced a number of Hawaiian pageants.

Vickie sang with numerous prestigeous glee clubs and became a member of the Hawaii Calls radio show in 1935 and continued for 16 years until her daughter Lani Custino took her place. Vickie worked with the USO during the war years. She composed many Hawaiian classics and translated songs from English to Hawaiian and the reverse. She married Clarence L. Rodrigues in 1931, and their five children all became Hawaiian entertainers including Nina Keali'iwahamana and Boyce Rodrigues.



Biographical material from Tony Todaro, The Golden Years of Hawaiian Entertainment (Tony Todaro Pub., 1974).