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A spotlight goes out for Maui’s stage, performing arts community

Auriol Flavell • Dec. 6, 1923–Nov. 15, 2018: Patroness of the arts Auriol Flavell dies in her Kihei home ‘in peace’

Auriol Flavell contemplates a work of art at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in this undated photo. Flavell, a longtime Maui philanthropist and patroness of the arts, died Thursday night. She was 94. -- Maui Arts & Cultural Center photo

Maui’s arts community lost a treasure Thursday when longtime philanthropist and patroness of the arts Auriol Flavell died at her Royal Mauian apartment in Kihei. She was 94.

“She was wonderful,” said neighbor and longtime friend Dr. Mary Trotto. “She was the most generous, giving person I ever met.”

Flavell was one of the founding members of the board of the Maui Pops Orchestra, established in 2004, according to Maui Pops Executive Director Cheryl Lindley. Her biography on the orchestra’s website says Flavell was on the boards of the Maui Philharmonic Society and a founding member of the Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation. She was also a sponsor and producer for the Maui Academy of Performing Arts.

“In the world of theater, she was the grand dame of patrons,” said stepdaughter and Pukalani resident Penny Dant, whose father was Flavell’s second husband, Walter Naquin.

Flavell would attend performances regularly, give away tickets and underwrite performances like “Les Miserables” at costly venues like the Maui Arts & Cultural Center and bring artists to Maui, such as concert pianist Hyperion Knight.

Auriol Flavell poses with Swedish-born Maui designer, artist and woodworker Mats Fogelvik with a table he created that was on display at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. -- Maui Arts & Cultural Center photo

In 2014, the Maui Pops established the Auriol Flavell Student Scholarship Fund for young musicians, awarded annually for Maui students to study music in college. Lindley said that so far, the now self-sustaining fund has awarded 11 scholarships, ranging from $500 to $2,000 each, totaling $14,500.

A number of donors have added to the scholarship fund, which will continue in Flavell’s memory, Lindley said.

“It will continue. We will keep it going in perpetuity. It’s one of her many legacies,” she said. “She’s done so much for the performing arts on this island. She’s going to be sorely missed.”

Maui Pops board member Mike Trotto said Flavell’s “passion” was to help young musicians with scholarships as they prepare to enter the music industry.

“So many people benefitted from her generosity,” he said.

His sister, Mary, said that if all of the young people who’ve received scholarships were gathered together, “they’d probably fill up a whole stadium.”

Mike Trotto said he believed Flavell’s wealth came from ownership of apartment complexes and commercial developments on the Mainland and in British Columbia.

She also was a generous donor to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

“We’re all sad about the passing of our beloved Auriol,” said Art Vento, the center’s president and chief executive officer. “She was absolutely a sweetheart and wonderful.”

He described her philanthropic reach as “extensive.”

Mary Trotto said Flavell also was a supporter of Hale Kau Kau, St. Theresa Church’s daily meals program for homeless people and homebound residents. She said Flavell would pay for high-quality entertainment for the program’s annual gala fundraiser.

In 2003, The Maui News recognized Auriol and then-husband Ed Flavell (her third husband) as its “People Who Made A Difference” for that year.

Longtime friend Linda Howlett said she became friends with Flavell when they worked to support Maui Youth Theater in the early 1980s. Later, the program would become the Maui Academy of Performing Arts.

“She was always one of the best volunteers,” Howlett remembered, recalling that she didn’t just sit down and write a check. She would answer telephones in the office at the old Maui Youth Theater in Puunene, pick up children from school and drive them to the theater and bring lunches for office staff.

“Her children (Maui keiki) were her focus,” she said.

Aside from MAPA, Flavell supported the Baldwin Theatre Guild and Seabury Hall’s performing arts program, Howlett said.

And, she helped a broad range of nonprofits.

“There was a time when she would just do it for everybody,” she said. “She was an amazing example of how to live in your community and how to give — give what you can and give of your time. She was a role model for me.”

She helped the Baldwin drama students take a spring show to the Castle Theater, a “very expensive” proposition, Howlett recalled.

But, “she wanted those kids to have the experience of performing on the Castle stage,” she said.

Flavell was someone who lived life to its fullest right up to the end, she said.

“She loved to eat out. She loved to give to people,” Howlett said.

Although she didn’t like to be asked for money, she’d step up and help if she knew an organization was in need, she said.

“If it had to do with kids, that was her passion to give kids an education,” she said. “She just wanted everybody’s life to be better.”

Mary Trotto found Flavell unresponsive around 8 p.m. Thursday. A nurse had called Trotto, whose apartment is across the hallway, to check on her after she had called the nurse to say she wasn’t feeling well.

“She knew something was coming soon,” Trotto said, adding that she had been “very frail” recently and was experiencing shortness of breath.

“She died the way she wanted to, at home in peace,” Trotto said.

Flavell is survived by four biological children and four stepchildren. Her biological children are Doug Forst of Vancouver, British Columbia; David Forst of Okanagan Falls, British Columbia; Corrinne Caldwell of Newtown Square, Pa.; and Cheryl Anderson of Edmonton, Alberta. She also leaves 10 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

Caldwell said Flavell was born in Oxdrift, Ontario, Canada, and moved to England as a young child. Then, in the early days of World War II, she was evacuated from England and returned to Canada, where she settled in Vancouver.

She outlived three husbands.

During the war, Flavell’s birthdate was altered on her passport to be a month earlier, Nov. 6, 1923, to allow her to attend school earlier after leaving England. So, for years, family members celebrated her birthday on Nov. 6, instead of her actual birthday, Dec. 6.

She purchased a unit at the Royal Mauian nearly 50 years ago, although she lived for a time in California.

Funeral services are pending, Dant said. Plans call for cremation, followed by an ocean service sometime in January. The date for public services will be announced later.

* Brian Perry can be reached at bperry@mauinews.com.

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