[2] The son of Peter and Rebecca Kahele, both of Native Hawaiian descent, Gilbert was the third of six children.

Kahele attended Hilo High School, played on the Vikings football team, and graduated in 1960.

Kahele served in the United States Marine Corps for four years in the engineering troop responsible for refrigeration.

Kahele moved back to Hawaiʻi where he began a civil service career that would last 33 years.

[4][5] He married United Airlines stewardess Linda Haggberg in October 1971, and the couple lived in Wahiawa.