HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The shores of Kaohao were adorned with flowers Sunday morning after a paddle out honoring the life of Hopena Pokipala, who died in a car crash in Waimanalo last month .

“It was really, really special, really a great way to pay tribute to Hopena and the guy that he was,” Pokipala’s friend George Wilson said. “The beach was crowded till the eye can see, and the amount of people that paddled out with us was amazing.”

Pokipala, 30, earned his bachelor’s degree in international business and marketing from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

After graduating, Pokipala started an oyster shucking business, Oysters Hawaii, with his wife, former Miss Hawaii and Miss Hawaii USA Allison Chu, whom he just married earlier this year.

“There was a part (during the service)

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