Elmer Franklin Cravalho was born on February 19, 1926, in Paia, Hawaii, and died on June 27, 2016.
He was an American politician and former teacher.
He served as a member of the Democratic Party.
He served as the first Mayor of Maui from 1969 to 1979 and the first Speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives following statehood.
Elmer was a descendant of Portuguese immigrants who settled in Hawaii.
In 1947, he received his bachelor’s degree in education from University of Hawaii, .
Elmer taught at school and was a school principal.
Then, later, he went in the insurance and banking business.
Elmer Cravalho was also involved with the credit union movement, farming, and ranching.
He started his political career in 1955 as a member of Hawaii’s territorial House of Representatives.
Elmer Cravalho served as the first House Speaker (1959–1967) following statehood, and a delegate to the 1960 Democratic National Convention, Maui mayor and chairman of the Maui Board of Water Supply.
A variety of Maui’s development can be traced to Cravalho’s term as mayor.
During the 1970s, Elmer Cravalho was responsible for developing the waterline from Wailuku to Wailea, which enabled the development of Kihei.
He had a part in the formation of Maui Economic Opportunity Inc., a private, nonprofit organization chartered in 1965 to help low-income elderly, children and youth, persons with disabilities, immigrants, other disadvantaged people and the general public to help themselves.
He had retired from office suddenly in 1979, just months after winning re-election for a second term in the 1978 election.
However, Democrat Hannibal Tavares won a special election in October 1979 to complete the remainder of Cravalho’s term.
Elmer Cravalho passed away at 90 yrs old.