This month, services were held to celebrate the life of Gloria Lutu Marks, one of the last surviving patients of Kalaupapa, Molokaʻi.
She was among the thousands once banished to the remote peninsula because she had leprosy, now known as Hansen’s disease.
As many bid a final aloha to Marks, they remembered her journey. Born in American Samoa, she was excited to start a new life as a young girl with her family in Hawaiʻi. But everything changed when Marks was diagnosed with leprosy at 16.
Over the decades living in Kalaupapa, she helped lead nearly every organization in the community. That included Ka ʻOhana O Kalaupapa, made up of patients, their families, and friends like Valerie Monson, who’s the executive director.
"Gloria was one of the many people sent to Kalaupapa, who, they could have just given up. But instead, they accepted what was happening to them, and not only that, they overcame, and went on to live incredibly great, accomplished lives," Monson said.
"So she went from someone who was struggling with English… and ended up with this very powerful voice. She and Richard truly changed Kalaupapa."
Along with her husband, Richard Marks, Gloria started Damien Tours, which ran for more than 50 years. And they had five children.
In a 2012 interview, Marks said how thrilled she felt going to Rome to see Father Damien and Mother Marianne Cope elevated to sainthood.
"We are very, very proud of it. We can walk on clouds, you know," Marks said.
Bishop Larry Silva said Marks also helped people understand the legacy of Kalaupapa.
"I think she really tried to help people understand not only the legacy of Father Damien and Mother Marianne, who are our Hawaiʻi saints… but the history of Kalaupapa, which is a sad history, a history of exile, a history of rejection — and yet a history of people who are resilient, who make the best of life, and who then make their home there and live life as fully as they can," Silva said.
Marks operated the only bar in Kalaupapa, selling snacks, beer and wine. And, as chair of the Kalaupapa Patients Advisory Council, she spoke up for the needs of the patients.
Dr. Jack Lewin got to know Marks while serving as the state’s director of health in the '80s and early '90s.
"She was a leader in a community of people that are incredibly special… a self-governing autonomous community of people who were the first generation to be cured of leprosy, Hansen’s disease," Lewin said. "They gave hope and faith to anyone who encountered them."
Gloria Marks died on Oct. 10, 2025, at the age of 87.
Five Hansen's disease survivors now remain in Hawaiʻi.
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