Details emerge on some of the victims through social media
Aug. 22—As the death toll from the Aug. 8 Lahaina wildfire grows, more details are emerging on social media and in media reports about some of the victims.
The Maui Police Department on Monday added to two names to the list — Lahaina residents Douglas Gloege, 59, and Juan de Leon, 45 — bringing the total to 115.
Before he was confirmed dead, friends of de Leon told Civil Beat he played music
in a church group. A GoFundMe page was set up to assist his family, who lost their home. Information on Gloege was not immediately available.
Among the victims named Sunday by MPD was Lahaina resident Jonathan "Jon" Somaoang, 76, a veteran and retired master woodworker and carver, according to a "missing" poster and social media posts. Somaoang at one time owned Simon-Jon Gallery in Lahaina town, where he sold his fine Hawaiian wood bowls and also carved tikis at Lahaina Cannery Mall.
The poster said his home burned but that his green Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was not parked there at the time.
Also officially identified Sunday was Rodolfo "Rudy" Rocutan, 76, or "Papa Oppo," as his family called him. Speaking to Manila-
based media company ABS-CBN before Rocutan was confirmed to have died, grandson Ian Rocutan said the last time family heard from him was the night before flames engulfed the town.
"He was supposed to be with his sister, my grandmother who he's living with," the younger Rocutan told ABS-CBN. "They got separated because my grandmother tried to get her bag from the garage, but it was already burning down."
According to a verified GoFundMe page set up to cover Rocutan's funeral expenses and assist his family in the Philippines, the family was notified of his death
Friday. A message from his family called him a "wise, friendly, caring, and loving" father and grandfather.
Also named Sunday was Conchita Sagudang, 75, who died with her son, Danilo Sagudang, 55, while trying to flee their home in the Paunau subdivision,
according to a Facebook post by family. Both were from Abra province in the Philippines.
Another victim whose name was released Sunday was Angelita Vasquez, one of several tenants at the 35-unit Hale Mahaolu Eono
independent-living apartment complex on Lahainaluna Road who died in the fire.
Other fire victims whose names were previously released by MPD include:
>> Virginia "Vergie" Dofa, 90, of Lahaina. She, too, was a tenant at Hale Mahaolu Eono.
>> Alfredo Galinato, 79,
of Lahaina. Galinato's family told the Honolulu Star-
Advertiser he was waiting for his wife to get off work at the Safeway at Lahaina Cannery Mall when he decided to rush back to try to save his longtime family home
on Kopili Street. He apparently died while hosing down his yard and roof and neighbors' property. Galinato retired several years ago from his job as "the bird man" taking care of parrots and other wildlife at the Westin Maui Resort &Spa
in Kaanapali.
>> Donna Gomes, 71, of Lahaina. The retired MPD public safety aide at the
Lahaina Police Station was caught in the firestorm while trying to get to her car parked across from her home on Lahainaluna Road. The stern but devoted
family matriarch enjoyed playing poker and was scheduled to visit Las Vegas on Aug. 16, a day after what would have been her 72nd birthday, her family told the Star-Advertiser.
>> Buddy Jantoc, 79, of Lahaina. The beloved local musician was a tenant at Hale Mahaolu Eono. The bass guitarist toured the world with other musicians and was a fixture playing music at local hotels in Lahaina and played for several halau hula.
Also among the first wildfire victims named were Lahaina residents Robert Dyckman, 74, and Melva Benjamin, 71.
Although MPD has not released his name, the Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner last week confirmed that Kirk Carter, 44, of Lahaina, died Aug. 15 at Straub Medical Center's Burn Unit in Honolulu. He worked for Atlantis Submarines Maui as a guest service agent. Friends told the Star-
Advertiser he was a diehard Chicago sports fan and fun-
loving guy "who just wanted every day to make people laugh ... and he just brightened the energy of the room."
