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"Death before death," the Egyptians called leprosy.

When it entered the life of early Hawaiian Church convert Kitty Napela in the winter months of 1872, she and her husband, Jonathon, walked together to meet it. Leprosy was then the most dreaded of diseases; but Kitty's infection was Jonathon's problem, and he protected her as they faced it - together.Stalwarts in the development of the Church in the Hawaiian Islands, their story of love, fidelity and service under tragic conditions remains an inspiration to all husbands and wives who believe in eternal families.

Like the New Testament's Cornelius of Caesarea, Jonathon Hawaii Napela was a "devout man and one that feared God with all his house . . . and prayed to God always." From his first introduction to the gospel by the Mormon missionaries, he was obedient to the Lord and His servants. His wife, Kitty Richardson Napela, was known as one of the most beautiful women in the islands, and he loved her devotedly.

Leprosy was not unusual in 1872. It had invaded almost every village in the Islands. Hawaiian law facilitated divorce when one person contracted leprosy, since the one infected had to be isolated at the leper colony. There was no cure or effective treatment for the disease.

In 1865 a green peninsula on the northern side of the island Molokai, guarded by high cliffs and accessible only from the ocean, was set aside by the Hawaiian government as a dwelling place for those afflicted with leprosy.

Originally only those with the disease were allowed in the colony at Kalawao. (The older leper colony was at Kalawao; the newer patient community is at Kalaupapa.) There were no amenities, not even shelter or food, and no medical help for the ill. Occasionally small ships pulled close to the peninsula and unloaded meager rations of food that were soaked with sea water before the weak and sickened people could drag them ashore. The new patients were unloaded the same way. The inhabitants had no equipment to fish, to garden, or to build shelters.

In the words of historian Alfons L. Korn, "social oblivion followed by a harrowing form of death, sooner or later, was the common lot of Molokai lepers during the late 19th century."

Jonathon could not let Kitty face such a future alone. He requested an appointment as assistant superintendent of the colony, which enabled him to accompany Kitty and become her Kokua (helper or nurse). They arrived in the colony in January 1873.

Born on the island of Maui Sept. 11, 1813, of chiefly rank, Napela qualified by heritage and age for formal education brought by the Protestant missionaries in the 1820s. He was educated at Lahainaluna Seminary by Congregationalist teachers. When he met Elder George Q. Cannon, one of the first Mormon missionaries on Maui, in December 1851, Napela was a circuit court judge and magistrate of Wailuku District.

Napela used his influence to assist the missionaries, providing housing and opportunities to teach. For this he was abused by the local minister and threatened with the loss of his position as magistrate. Jonathon and Kitty were baptized Jan. 5, 1852, and their only living child, Harriet Panana Kaiwaokalani Napela, was born two months later.

Napela generously shared his spiritual strength. Elder George Q. Cannon records in his journal: "May 1, 1852. Brother Napela preached to a lady who desired to be baptized, but had for the past five years been unable to walk upright and had to crawl wherever she went. He commanded her in the name of Jesus Christ to arise and walk, and she did so. Several other people came into the Church as a result of this miracle, for her malady was well known."

Elder Cannon records another occasion when he and several other missionaries had been detained on the island of Hawaii for weeks by torrential rains common to that area. One morning Napela was requested to offer a prayer in their behalf that they might travel; during his prayer the elements calmed, and the missionaries were able to leave that day.

Napela assisted Elder Cannon with the translation of the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian. He obtained land and helped to build houses of worship. He was instrumental in protecting the saints from exploitation by apostates.

In 1869 he petitioned King Kamehameha I for permission to leave the Islands for a trip to the United States. Permission was given, and he traveled to Salt Lake City to receive his endowments, the first Hawaiian to be endowed, on Aug. 2, 1869.

It was a 60-year-old man of stature who arrived at Kalawao on Molokai with his distressed wife. He immediately began working to improve conditions on the island, and when Father Damien arrived May 10, 1873, there was a pier where food could be unloaded and where new inmates could arrive without being soaked.

In June 1873, another victim of leprosy arrived, Peter Young Kaeo, a descendant of ancient kings of Kauai and a younger half-brother of King Kamehameha I. Kaeo corresponded in great detail with his cousin, Queen Emma, the consort of King Kamehameha IV. From his letters much is learned of Napela's activities and the growing friendship and admiration he had for Napela.

The responsibility of keeping order in the settlement and the people of Kalawao fed and clothed was Napela's. Despite the constant reports he sent to the board of health in Honolulu of hunger and exposure to cold, lack of housing and clothing, the need for more and better food, little was done by the government.

As a Mormon elder, Napela began Sunday meetings and was later set apart as branch prsident. He also served as judge for the colony, creating and enforcing law and order.

Kitty's health was unstable, with more periods of being ill. Her face and arm were severely swollen, but her beauty remained. There were times when in remission she would go horseback riding, or even bathing or visiting.

Then in October 1873 came distressing news. The board of health had tired of Napela's pleas and petitions. He was dismissed as assistant superintendent and ordered to leave the leper settlement and return home.

Kitty had been ill and was still weak. Kaeo wrote, ". . . if this seperation [sic] will really take place I think it will break her heart. Napela I understand is going to write to the Board to allow him to remain with his wife as Kokua. . . . I rode home and passing the store, I heard the natives saying that the Catholic priest [Father Damien] was weeping."

The Board allowed Napela to stay, justifying their decision: ". . . it would be unwise to release him from the settlement, by reason of his long stay amongst and his constant mingling with the lepers, and if released he might spread the disease."

Kitty's infection progressed slowly. Napela, as branch president, traveled to Laie for conference in April 1876, where he met with friends for the last time.

In 1877, Jonathon contracted leprosy, and in him it progressed rapidly. Elder Henry P. Richards visited the colony in 1878 and found Napela ravaged by the disease and almost unrecognizable. Still, he was caring for the saints as district president over the two branches now organized.

Napela died Aug. 5, 1879, his love for his wife undiminished. She, finally left alone, followed him in 1881.

Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi of the First Quorum of the Seventy memorialized Napela in his April 1988 general conference talk: "Because his wife had to go to Kalaupapa, the leper colony, Jonathon, too, wanted to go. He took her hand, and they went there together. Why would he do this? Because he loved her so much. He knew that life is eternal and love is eternal, even through days of `sickness and health.'"

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