A red poinsettia and a small string of Christmas lights adorned the kitchen of our small, shared housing in Hauula. It was a simple act, one of many I witnessed over the last couple days I spent interviewing Anna Kaanga for the article announcing her retirement from BYU–Hawaii.
When she heard we were a small family—two couples making the best of a holiday season away from our mainland families—compared to her family of 12 children and “41 and a half” grandchildren, Kaanga didn’t insist or offer, rather she acted. Before I realized fully what was happening, I was waiting in her car as she retrieved the decorations from her own house on Kawaihemo Place, which was populated with grandchildren smiling and giggling on her front lawn.
Aside from this simple act of goodwill, Kaanga’s interview was interrupted a handful of times by children, both her own and her children’s, calling to ask for advice or bumping into her at the shopping center—where we sat eating the breakfast she bought me—and asking to borrow a mask. People from the community also stopped, needing her assistance or to say hello, and I never did get the chance to ask about their connection to Kaanga but could guess by their smiles and waves they too had once been recipients of her simple acts.
“Aunty treated me to a pedicure at a salon one time,” shared Cecil Caro, a recent BYUH graduate from the Philippines who used to work for Kaanga as one of her teaching assistants. “It was my first time to have someone give me a pedi, so it's definitely a memorable experience.” Caro added Kaanga also did not hesitate to take her on the more-than-30-minute drive to the local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) at 7 a.m. once so Caro could take her written driver’s test.
As an administrative assistant in the Faculty of Religious Education, Kaanga explained she has been able to work with full-time faculty as well as the many senior missionaries called to teach religion at BYUH who are always coming and going. One such missionary couple, Elder Aaron Hatch and his wife, Patty, came to serve in Hawaii with their daughter, Julie. Elder Hatch taught Seminary prep classes at BYUH from Fall 2002 to Spring 2003.
In a letter to Kaanga on July 14, 2003, Elder Hatch shares several experiences in which Kaanga helped him get settled as a new teacher at BYUH. He writes, “Now this is a very small thing, but when I needed to buy video tapes for my classes, you said, ‘Go to Sam's Club and buy them in bulk.’ I countered with, ‘Where is Sam's Club?’ Very patiently you drew me a map, we followed it and got the tapes.”
He adds how Kaanga also gave him and his wife a list of all the sights to see on Oahu. “We remember when we got lost in Kaneohe, and I said, ‘There were three Kaneohes,’ and I knew that because I had driven through three of them. You laughed and said, ‘No, there is only one, and you were driving around in circles.’”
Another pair of missionaries Kaanga served with were Bob and Marilyn Parsons. In a card they left with Kaanga before they returned home in 2006, Marilyn Parson writes Kaanga’s was the “first hug we received when we first arrived and the last as we left.” She adds whenever they had an issue with the computer, her husband would immediately announce he was going to Kaanga with his question.
Aaron Shumway, associate professor and the director of Religious Education at BYUH, shared, “She [Kaanga] builds people up. She's concerned first and foremost for the individual.” He explained her concern for people does not get in the way of her following correct processes and policies, and he described her as “eminently capable, but also eminently personable.”
He continued, “If somebody says, ‘I have a problem with this,’ even before the words are out of their mouth, she’s on the phone talking to somebody, and within two minutes or less, the right connections are made, or somebody is on the way to fix it.”
Kaanga herself noted the connections she has made in the nearly 40 years she has spent at BYUH, including the five years she worked as the administrative assistant for three different faculties at once.
“It seems you’ve gotten to know a lot of people,” I remarked to Kaanga during our interview. Immediately, she began listing all the departments she has worked with and is grateful for, including Facilities Management, the library, construction workers and custodians. “Media Services,” she emphasized, “Be sure to get media in there.”
“If somebody says, ‘I have a problem with this,’ even before the words are out of their mouth, she’s on the phone talking to somebody, and within two minutes or less, the right connections are made, or somebody is on the way to fix it.”
Kaanga said she always strives to remind the faculty she works with to be kind to custodians and construction workers because, she explained, they never know when the bathroom might overflow, or the computers might break down. “I've gotten to know pretty much every department on campus and every [phone] number and lots of cell phone [numbers], too,” she said with a laugh. “And they've been so good. If it's an emergency, they're always there.”
Working as an administrative assistant, particularly in the Religion Department, Kaanga said she has been surrounded by “spiritual giants” who have added to her knowledge about the gospel. “One of the religion teachers that I’ve worked with was my own personal general authority. He was such a good, good man. …. He just opened my eyes to so many things.”
This religion teacher, LeVar Thornock, reminded her during a time Kaanga said she felt guilty for being a working mom, “‘It’s just between you and your husband and the Lord. Nobody else.’” Kaanga added, “He was just so kind and so loving. He made me feel that I’m okay, and that just helped me be a better person.”
These conversations often occurred as religion professors mingled near Kaanga’s desk in the Religion Office, she explained. “The insights that I’ve collected while working in the Religion Department on religion [and] on the scriptures is amazing. It doesn’t have a price tag on it.”
As a child, Kaanga said she loved going to church, and when she went to a boarding school, Kaanga shared, she couldn’t go to church, so she started her own little group study sessions in her dorm. Two of those classmates went on to join the church, Kaanga added. “I personally have always loved the gospel. [I] have loved serving in it.”
She explained how not all of her family members and children have shared her same love for the church and the gospel but working in the Religion Department among these “spiritual giants” made her feel “real.” She continued, “Working in the Religion Office made me feel like there was hope for me.” Every time she began to wonder if what she was doing was right or enough, Kaanga said one of her co-workers would tell her about a different quote or scripture that would boost her confidence and add to her faith.
At the end of December 2021, Kaanga officially retired from her position as administrative assistant. Her children threw her a surprise drive-thru retirement party, to which former colleagues, friends and loved ones came to show their appreciation and love. In facing this new chapter of her life Kaanga shared, “It’s gonna be exciting. And it’ll be fun. It’ll be crazy. And am I ready for it? I’m not sure, but I’m sure. Nobody’s ready for anything, yet they just jump in. Right?”