Local entertainer Jeff Apaka, the son of legendary Hawaiian music vocalist Alfred Apaka, died Sunday, Jan. 30 after a long battle with cancer. He was 75.
Jeff Apaka was also a vocalist and headlined shows at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in the late 1960s and the Maui Surf Hotel in the early 1980s.
He entertained at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for five years beginning in 2012.
In the 1980s, Apaka stepped away from his career for several years to be a caregiver for his grandparents. For more than 25 years, his day job was the director of community relations at the Waikiki Community Center, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports.
Apaka received the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award in December 2021 at the Royal Hawaiian. His father received the award in 1997.
Memorial plans are pending.
