Patricia Coons

Patricia "Patti" Coons was a beloved mother and Tutu as well as a world renown special event designer. Her influence in the special events industry - which was her passion in life - cannot be understated. She was considered a pioneer, a visionary, a teacher and a mentor in the field. She won numerous industry awards including Visionary of the Year in 2005 and she was both a founding member and International President of the International Special Events Society, now ILEA. She dedicated herself to the profession that gave her so much joy and created a network of dear friends and business family over the years. She was both loved and respected by all who worked with her.

Patti began her career in television and rock 'n' roll production in Honolulu in the 1970's and helped to produce the Crater Festivals at Diamond Head Crater among others. She was also deeply committed to the theatre and designed costumes and stage sets for numerous local theatre productions. She was the Costume and Prop Designer for Rap Replinger's Show, "Rap's Hawaii".

Her love of production design led her to the corporate arena and designing special events for corporations coming to Hawaii for incentives and other business meetings. She left Honolulu for New York City in 1987 and then on to Orlando in 1989 where she opened her own design firm. She expanded to Cancun and the Caribbean in the late 90's before returning to Hawaii where she settled on the Big Island in 2003. She was the Chairman of Nalu Creative from 2011 until she passed.

She is survived by her son, Kevin Coons, daughter-in0law Rebecca, as well as Grandchildren Nicolas and Taylor, and two Great-Grandsons.