Kerri-Lynn Slavens

Kerri-lynn Kahiwahiwakaopuaokalani “Yaya” Coelho Slavens, 59, passed away at her Kula home on May 7, 2026. Kerri was born on April 25, 1967 in Honolulu. She spent part of her childhood in Kona before spending most of her adolescence and teenage years on Maui, where she graduated from Maui High School in 1985.

She moved to Oahu for college and graduate school at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and later thrived in her role as a school tech librarian at Waipahu Elementary and Waipahu Intermediate School. Kerri spent more than 35 years on Oahu dedicated to raising her family, serving students in her community, and bringing warm, loving energy to everyone she encountered.

In 2021, Kerri returned to her island home of Maui. Staying true to her love of education and technology, she retired as librarian at Maui Waena Intermediate in 2025. Together with her husband, Dana, they built a home, which she eloquently named Haleonalani, and cultivated a life that filled her with joyful companionship, meaningful work, and beautiful Valley Isle views she cherished so deeply.

Kerri is survived by her loving husband, Dana Mendoza; her children, Cullen and Connor Slavens; her mother, Carla Coelho; her siblings, William Coelho and Katherine Coelho; and many other extended ʻOhana.

Services will be held at Ballard Mortuary in Kahului, HI on June 27th, 2026, at 11:00 AM.

We will so deeply miss our Yaya. Her warm spirit lives on in the many lives she touched as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, educator, and friend. Aloha ‘Āina ʻOiaʻiʻo.