History

Blanche Pope Elementary School was named for Della Blanche Romick Pope, wife of Willis Thomas Pope, former Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Territory of Hawaii from 1910-1913. Mrs. Pope was a pioneer in building the public school system in Hawaii. Mrs. Pope was born in Niles, Kansas and came to Hawaii in 1906. An interesting anecdote about Mrs. Pope tells of her meeting her husband Willis T. Pope in Hawaii while she served as a teacher in the system. They fell in love and returned to her home town in Kansas to wed on July 12, 1906. Upon returning back to the Hawaiian Islands on the vessel Manchuria, they were shipwrecked off the reef near Waimanalo. The residents of Waimanalo rescued them. So grateful for their help and so enthralled with the beauty of the area, they eventually returned to Waimanalo to establish residency. Blanche Pope was the first president of the McKinely High School P.T.A. and also was the first president of the Hawaii Congress of Parents and Teachers. She served as a State Commissioner of Education from 1928 to 1930. Mrs. Pope was a member of Central Union Church, the Hawaiian Hibiscus Society, and the Waimanalo Beach Association. Mr. and Mrs. Pope had three sons, George of Colma City, California, Richard of San Jose, California, and Horace Pope of Honolulu. They also had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Pope resided at 41-907 Laumilo Street in Waimanalo. Mrs. Pope died on August 9, 1963 in Daly City, California. She along with her husband are buried at the Oahu Cemetery, Honolulu.