Keith R. Woolliams

I truthfully can't remember if my over 35 year relationship with Keith, Akiko, Frankie and Me-chan was

more social or professional.  Anyway, it has been a pleasure, for me and Dorothy to see Frankie and Me-chan

grow up..

 

Much of my contact with Keith was at Waimea (looking at, talking about, and sharing new acquisitions) but

with the  familly at Ahuimanu, Waihuna and Mililani, and here at Kaaawa, where it was social with dinners

and parties.  We even went to Fiji on a collecting trip together. That was about 20 years ago and it was a memorable

trip - visiting growers and even collecting to the top of Mt. Lomolani.

 

Is it a mistake to think that some people will always be around?  The Greeks believed that life everlasting is

in the memory of the ones left behind.  Keith is one of those.

 

Keith Woolliams left Hawaii in 1998, having created this world-class plant collection out of nothing. He started as the botanist, but for 17 of the 20 years that he was the Director here, he was bankrolled by a rich family to create an ark for the world’s endangered species. Waimea was a product of the boundless optimism we all shared in 70’s. I was lucky enough to start here when the place was at its zenith. Of course we didn’t know it at the time. It’s laughable to remember how much we complained, but the heyday of Waimea Falls Park was a golden era. Keith inspired an entire generation, and so many of his disciples populate Hawaii’s plant conservation community today. He led a staff of 20 gardeners back then with weekly meetings, always reminding us of the importance of our work. He seemed larger than life. I always thought he’d be famous some day. He suffered fools and took many of us under wing, earning our devotion. He trained us so well in old-school gardening – sharpened balling spades, air-layering, proper pruning, and while the rest of the botanical world was going molecular, he focused on down-to-earth, practical, whole-plant botany.

He linked this privately owned collection to the world of long-established botanical institutions. We were charter members of the BGCI and the first Hawaiian Garden to join the Center for Plant Conservation. I’m sitting next to 22 file drawers filled with 5 by 8 cards each representing an accessions acquired, but no longer alive at Waimea. Even these records are priceless. Our inventory has been maintained electronically since 1989, but we keep hard copies of all the information logged onto BG-base (an inventory program used by many gardens developed by botanists at Harvard and Oxford). Behind me are 12 file drawers representing the living collections. About a third of the plants here were collected from the wild with excellent provenance data. Many took more than one try to get established, and close look at some of our most valuable plants reveal that many had to be “re-obtained”, sometimes several times, from field botanists or other documented collections - a staggering amount of correspondence before the internet.

He was the ultimate stickler for taxonomic accuracy. Many of Waimea’s most valuable exotic plants were brought here in the last window of opportunity before the Rio Convention of 1992 which limited the free exchange of plants across international borders. Keith always said that to save a species it has to be shared. Our native hibiscus collections have been spread to all the documented collections in Hawaii. Even as I drive home to my shack in nearby Pupukea, I recognize that so many of the exotics in neighbors’ yards could only have come from Waimea. Keith spread beauty as well as rare, well-documented germplasm.

When they were considered two different fields, Keith merged botany and horticulture and what remains here is his legacy. What we continue to add is also a result of the reputation he earned for Waimea, because of his high standards of curation and accurate record-keeping. He was so dedicated, and very much a trail-blazer in making Waimea the first garden really to showcase Hawaiian ethnobotany – the named varieties of food and other useful plants developed by generations of Hawaiian farmers. Waimea is a constantly changing display of accessible plant diversity - over a thousand genera representing over 200 plant families, all with labels to explain their origins, family, botanical and common names. Unlike larger hodge-podge gardens, Waimea’s collections are grouped into separate gardens themed by plant families, genera or world/island origin.

Keith will eventually be so highly praised for what he accomplished here, but how sad that he never got the formal recognition he deserved. Worse, he was treated downright cruelly by the new management that overtook the Xanadu he created. He should have enjoyed a restful old age surrounded by the beauty he brought here. I was so fortunate share his sense of purpose in the later, largely frustrating years of his career at Waimea. As so many sensitive visitors have noted, this is truly a sacred Valley, and I believe it called a great soul like Keith’s to enhance its beauty to enlighten all who visit. He’ll never be forgotten here.

"The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know". -- Socrates.

Keith Woolliams … a man that changed lives  ... and not just of plants.  I worked with Keith inWaimeaValleyfor the full duration of his tenure and was one of those curious people who asked lots of questions.  My reward was an open book of encyclopedic information from a very smart, well educated Englishman trained at the world renowned Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 

One of life's greatest rewards is to keep learning.  Keith was always willing to share, teach and mentor.  Many people who worked inWaimeaValleyadmired Keith's work and made the pursuit of plant knowledge their life's work.  David Orr was/is perhaps his greatest disciple.  David has kept the arboretum concept alive ... carrying for the accessions and records. Bill Garnet has focused his life on rare Hawaiian endemics in the field.  Winston Morton has spent his life in several plant related pursuits.  John Mood has gone on many expeditions and discovered many new species.  Shirley Gerum is the ultimate factoid sponge and became a botany teacher.  Other people came intoWaimeaValleywith previous horticultural training and have kept Keith's torch burning like Josephine Hoh, and Severio Remundo who will have his fortieth anniversary with the Valley this year.   There have been a legion of associates  like myself who continue to take botanical classes since Keith first lit the torch. 

Keith started a periodic publication called Waimea Arboretum Notes which was always news worthy and educational.  Many guest authors'  articles were published in this periodical. He also made peacock enclosures to keep the beautiful pheasants from stripping the leaves from some of his prized plants.

I do not want anyone to think that Keith was just a benevolent source of knowledge.  No indeed.  Keith could be a very feisty negotiator  when it came to advocating for his point of view ... and always with proper British decorum ... to be sure.  And of course, as a man with authority he had more than one rub with other staff with authority Keith was good at dynamic tension.  Keith usually prevailed.

I particularly enjoyed watching the Americanization of Akiko ... a traditionally humble Japanese wife who may have started out three steps behind her husband  ...  but not for long.  Akiko was always there right beside Keith.  When Keith's head, so full of plant names, that his retrieval system would slow down a little  ... Akiko would frequently ... humbly ... fill in the Latin.

Keith and Akiko were great parents and it was fun to watch Frank and Angela growing up in the Valley- looking for peacock feathers after mating season.   Keith made peacock enclosures to keep the beautiful pheasants from stripping the leaves from some of his prized plants.

Keith's legacy lives on in the lives of the many people he has influenced and also in the cell walls that got excellent horticultural care at their beginning in a pot on a bench under Keith's care.  Keith was a pioneer and champion for conservation through horticultural cultivation and he influenced much thought in that direction. Two plants that Keith helped to "save" are the Kokia cookei from Molokai, and the Sesbania tomentosa from Kaena point Oahu.

I am proud to have known Keith Woolliams and grateful to have learned so much from him. 

As a side bar ...  lest anyone think that names are easy ... most people misspelled Woolliams .... remember double "O" double "L".

My gandpa so grumpy but, happy at times.
Oh sweet memories like nursery rhymes.
The leader of the family, a friendly man.
He knew that life was at hand,
So he took the time he had and enjoyed every last bit.
My grandpa, I miss him.

My condolences. I will always remember our lively conversations at Wendy's on Sundays. He was always in good spirits and was so much fun to be around. Even though it's been years since I last saw him, I will miss him dearly.

I knew Keith as such a strong and upbeat individual, his attitude and smile was something I'll always remember. I pray for his family and friends, thanks for spending some time with us, Keith!