Koa Arnold captained the Lahainaluna High School swim team and served as a manager of the water polo program.

You knew from the very beginning that Koa Arnold would grow up to be a happy boy that exuded the sunshine warmth of the Valley Isle. We watched him grow up in the Kuhua Mill Camp neighborhood here in Lahaina with a constant smile on his face and a positive life energy at his core.

His dad, Chris Arnold, described Koa as, “The ambassador of love and understanding. Enjoying every day of his life, he was always willing to help anybody or to help solve a problem.”

Sadly, Koa Okazaki Arnold left this world to rest in everlasting peace and tranquility with our Heavenly Father on Oct. 30, 2020. He leaves behind his mom and dad, Saori and Chris Arnold, and younger brothers Noa and Hoku.

His bright and happy legacy lives on in even deeper ways beyond the family ties and intimacies of his childhood. After his passing from a rare complication of Mononucleosis, Koa and his family donated the gift of life to three other families through organ donation. That took place on Nov. 1, just one month before his 19th birthday.

He will always be remembered as a bright-spirited, positive-minded boy who manifested the warmth of the West Side. Koa graduated with the Lahainaluna High School Class of 2020, where he captained the swim team and was a manager of the water polo program. He grew up in and around the water — and snow, as he loved snowboarding and was contemplating a resort job in Hokkaido, Japan — and loved anything to do with nature. He also loved pottery and was looking forward to a creative career with his own business.

“The world was truly his oyster, and whatever he decided to do would be great and would make a great many people happy. Saori and I would like to thank Lahaina for the outpouring of support and generosity from everyone in the community. It’s incredible how many lives Koa touched in such a short time. Koa was such a playful, evolved soul that he would want us to live every day happily with his wonderful memories and keep smiling. We live on stronger knowing we will meet again and that energy never ceases to exist,” said Chris. (By Walter Chihara)