Paul Graca Medrano's Obituary
PAUL GRACA MEDRANO, 79, died unexpectedly on January 26, 2026, at his residence in Seattle, Washington. The family is deeply saddened and shocked by his sudden death. His body returned to his puʻuʻone hānau. Born in Honolulu on January 8, 1947, to Francisco Raurel from Bayambang, Tarlac, P.I., and Lucy Mahuna Medrano from Kaʻohe, South Kona. Paul was a proud graduate of the Kamehameha School for Boys, Class of 1965.
Memories live on with his brothers, Frank (KS ’57) and wife Abigail, Stanley (KS ʻ59), sisters, Lucy Gay (Punahou ʻ62) and husband (Robert), Carolyn Boylan (KS ‘64) and husband (Tom), nieces, Faye and Nohea Medrano, and Melissa Shapiro (KS ‘89); nephews, Jonathan Gay, and David, Tim, Dan Boylan of Pinehurst, Idaho; grandnephews Ikaika, Nui and Kahiau Medrano; Grandniece Kaena Medrano; Great grandnephew Ace Medrano; and many cousins.
Paul was predeceased by his father and mother, his older brother, Adam, and nephew Frank Lowell Medrano.
The family will receive friends and relatives from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at The Trousdale, Valley of the Temples Memorial Park in Kahaluʻu. A memorial service will follow at 11:00 a.m. with Brother Slate Burgess officiating. Burial will follow at the family plot at 1:00 p.m.
Condolences may be sent to the family at maninibeach2@yahoo.com.
The 1960’s were turbulent times for all young men of Paul’s generation, trapped between a polarizing, unpopular war in Vietnam and a reactionary hippie counter-culture youth movement. After graduating from Kamehameha, Paul enrolled in college in California. His college plan was cut short abruptly when his draft number was pulled and he had to tell our mother the dreaded news. As “point man” for his unit, Paul applied his keen sensitivities to bring his unit back to camp safely and in one piece. Many who came to Hawaii for Rest and Recuperation from the war searched for Paul’s mom to thank her for the son who saved them from harm on the battlefields.
After discharge, Paul fled the islands to live “under the radar”. There in the Northwest Paul could live his life deliberately. He found work in Seattle at Vic Franck’s Boat Company building and repairing classic wooden yachts, including the Nordstrom’s family yacht, Mistico and Peter Fonda’s Tatoosh. Paul preferred working only with wooden ships. He followed the craft of his late grandfather, Antone Grace, a noted Kahuna Kālai Wa`a from Kona, Hema. No fiberglass canoes for him! Over the years, Paul built his own fishing boat which he loved to launch from the channel fronting Frank’s home at Pōkole Point on Kāneʻohe Bay. While in Seattle, Paul found work and retired from Boeing and Panasonic Avionics. Not one to be idle, Paul found part-time work at Home Depot. Among the things Paul saved that we retrieved was a retirement congratulatory card where co-workers fondly remembered the Hawaiian music he listened to and the warm way they greeted the day with “ALOHA”.
So, we too say, a hui hou. E ʻike hou iā ʻoe ma kahi kokoke i ke kihi, e kuʻu kaikaina aloha, ʻo Iēhova i hoʻohiki me ka mamake. (See you just around the corner, my dear little brother, Jehovah willingly promises.)
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