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HILO, Hawaii – East Hawaii is mourning the loss of a beloved and tireless advocate for Downtown Hilo today.

Alice Moon died Monday after a battle with cancer at the age of 59.

Over the years Big Island Video News has interviewed Moon on numerous occasions and coordinated coverage of happenings in Downtown Hilo with her guidance. Special events like Chinese New Year and Black and White Night benefited from her thoughtful promotion. She helped to organize peace festivals and town hall meetings. She was a spokesperson for local businesses in times of crisis, like the tsunami scare in 2010. She pushed for the “buy local” ideal.

Moon speaks during a 2010 tsunami scare in Hilo.

For many the news came suddenly. Denise Laitinen, who was “stunned and shocked” at the passing of the “East Hawaii icon”, recollected Moon’s good deeds in an article she wrote for Ke Ola Magazine in 2012.

Moon spent most of her life in Hilo. Her family moved to Keaukaha when she was four years old, according to Laitinen’s Ke Ola story, and Moon graduated from Hilo High in 1974. Her work with Downtown Hilo began in the 1990’s.

Hilo radio personality Darrin Carlson, who worked closely with Moon to get the word out on her events over the airwaves, said he was shocked to hear of her passing. “We enjoyed having her on the radio and helped promote her many great downtown Hilo events,” he wrote on Facebook. “She will be missed!”

The Hilo Downtown Improvement Association shared a statement on their facebook page:

Our heartfelt sympathy go out to the ‘ohana of Alice Moon. Alice was tirelessly fighting to make Hilo a better place through community events via the Hilo Downtown Improvement Association. May she rest in peace. Hilo is a better place because of her efforts. Aloha ‘oe Alice. – Hilo Downtown Improvement Association