She and John Waihe'e III were both 1964 graduates of the private Seventh-day Adventist Hawaiian Mission Academy.

John involved himself in small-town community activism while in Michigan, with people already predicting his rise in politics.

At the time of his inauguration, the family continued to live in a modest Kalihi condo while Washington Place was undergoing work.

[2] For her first luncheon at the White House with Nancy Reagan, she had students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa design her a dress.

[3] Eventually she commissioned the students to design an entire wardrobe for her, that was featured as The First Lady Collection at a fashion show at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.

She served on numerous charitable and institutional boards in order to champion the welfare of Hawaii's children.