Familiar local volunteer possible H1N1 victim

FORESTVILLE – Sad news spread quickly on Tuesday about the
sudden death of this town’s most familiar face and previous
Volunteer of the Year.
J.D. Kaiwi, always seen on one of his beloved bicycles or busy
cleaning the town with his broom, died at Palm Drive Hospital early
Tuesday morning (July 7) after being admitted over the weekend with
pneumonia and flu-like symptoms.
Kaiwi may be the West County’s first Swine Flu fatality. A
hospital official confirmed Kaiwi tested positive for H1N1 (swine)
flu but a final cause of death has not been determined.
Kaiwi would be only the second swine flu-related death in Sonoma
County since a worldwide pandemic alert was issued in April. The
other fatality was an elderly man in Sonoma who died on June
19.
Numerous non-fatal cases of the H1N1 flu have been reported in
the county, according to Dr. Mary Maddux-González, MD, MPH, the
county’s public health officer.
Dr. Mark Netherda, deputy public health officer, said final
tests would take up to two weeks to determine if swine flu was the
cause of Kaiwi’s death. In the meantime, the health officer said it
is not necessary for people who have been in close contact with
Kaiwi to be tested for swine flu or show undue concern.
“People should monitor their own health and not need testing. If
someone obtains a continuous fever over 100 degrees or shows other
flu symptoms, then they may want to be tested,” Dr. Netherda
said.
According to Dr. Gonzalez’ office, H1N1 flu spreads the same way
as seasonal flu, mainly through coughing or sneezing by infected
people. The symptoms of H1N1 flu are similar to those of regular
seasonal flu, including a fever and most cases having a cough, sore
throat, body aches, headache, chills and tiredness.
“We anticipate that we will continue to see more cases over the
next several weeks and months now that the H1N1 virus has become
well established in California,” Dr. Gonzalez said in a recent
press statement.
The health officer said people should wash their hands
regularly, cover their mouths and nose when coughing and stay at
home if ill or feeling oncoming flu-like symptoms.
Like many other swine flu cases, Kaiwi would be an unsuspecting
victim. He was less than 50 years of age and was very active,
riding his bicycle many miles daily between Forestville and his
parents house in west Santa Rosa.
Wherever there was a crowd or special event around Forestville,
you could count on Kaiwi to be close by. He volunteered at the
annual Forestville Youth BBQ and for Bob Burke’s Kids campouts as a
grill cook. He also cooked and served food at the Hollydale
Community Club.
In 2008, the Forestville Chamber of Commerce named him Volunteer
of the Year. Over the past year he had been hired by the
Forestville Planning Association to clean-up the downtown area.
Kaiwi also worked at Speer’s Market and made daily rounds to
visit friends at Bo’z Cup Coffee, Rotten Robbie’s gas station and
elsewhere.
“People have been calling all day,” an employee at Speer’s said
on Tuesday. “He definitely had a lot of friends.” Kaiwi did all the
janitorial and recycling work for the neighborhood market and
recently started operating the market’s outdoor weekend BBQ
stand.
Bob Baba, owner of Forestville’s Hardware store and the town’s
unofficial, semi-retired mayor remembered his first meeting with
J.D.
“His uncle brought him by and introduced him as J.D.,” said
Baba, adding that no one really knew what the initials J.D. stood
for.
“He would come by all the time and talk. Talking is what he did
best. He could talk for hours and never shut up,” said Baba.
“That’s what he did; he rode around town on his bicycle and stop
and talk to people. Everybody loved him. He was simple and he was
truly loved,” Baba said.
John Dimitri (J.D.) Kaiwi is survived by his mother Barbara
Uebel, step-father Jack Uebel and two sisters, Corrina Nash of
Ukiah and Monica Kahumochu of Hawaii. He was predeceased by his
father.
Services and a memorial will be held at the Forestville
Methodist Church. A date and time has not been announced.