The 71-year-old Hilo man who jumped to his death Wednesday from the Puueo Bridge in downtown Hilo was a colorful character who pulled off an upset win in the GOP primary election for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District in 2012 — while homeless — and co-wrote one of Hawaii’s most beloved songs.
David “Kawika” Crowley campaigned by sign-waving in Windward Oahu next to his white 1995 Plymouth van, which was both his bedroom and the storeroom for his painting and light carpentry business, earning him the nickname the “Homeless Handyman.”
The outspoken Crowley — a 1969 Hilo High School graduate who reveled in being a maverick — lost to the better-financed Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat who pulled off her own primary upset over former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann. Crowley was again defeated by Gabbard in 2014, when she was the incumbent congresswoman.
Despite having fallen on hard times later in life, Crowley is credited as one of four songwriters who composed one of Hawaii’s most beloved songs, “Hawaii ‘78,” which was recorded by the Makaha Sons of Niihau and became a cultural anthem.
The late Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole, one of the original Makaha Sons, re-recorded the tune on his “Facing Future” album, and it became a world music classic. The other three writers were Mickey Ioane, who penned the melody and most of the lyrics, Clayton Kua and the late Abe Keala.
In a 2010 YouTube video with his guitar on his lap and a King Edward cigar in his right hand, Crowley called the song “one of the most popular and dynamic songs in the last 100 years in Hawaiian history.”
“Today, from Germany to Japan, all over the world, it’s still touching millions of people. It’s amazing,” he said. “I am indeed humbled and honored to have been part of it.”
Crowley, a father of three, owned a multitrack recording studio and a record label, Kawika Records, in the 1970s. Artists whose records he produced include Ernie Cruz Sr., the late patriarch of one of Hawaii’s most popular music families.
As a singer-songwriter, Crowley’s “Damn Changes” from his 1994 album “Journey Through the Storm of Life” was a local radio hit. He said on YouTube he wrote the song after four suicide attempts in two years.
“Ultimately, it was the result of years and years of fighting against unscrupulous development on my beloved island home, the Big Island, from the new hotels which closed off beaches, to fighting against unsightly observatories on the top of Maunakea,” Crowley said. “Yes, we all enjoy the comforts of modern living, but I also believe we all wish for a time back in the good ol’ days when life was so much simpler, sweeter and closer as a society.”
Police said a forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy Thursday on Crowley’s body found the cause of death was “blunt force injures to the neck.” The manner of death was determined to be suicide.
Joel Overstreet, who referred to Crowley as “Uncle David,” described Crowley on Facebook as “an accomplished writer, musician, author, tradesman and politician” and said Crowley “left a beautiful family who loved him dearly.”
“He may not have been the best example of how to be a father or how to love someone, but he left impression on me to love my kids and my wife with all my heart, and to apologize for the things that I have done wrong,” Overstreet said.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.