A Legacy of Adventure, Curling, and a Hawai‘i Never Forgotten

Pat Popovich followed her passions and left a legacy of friendship for the places and causes close to her heart.

An island girl who went on to explore the world, Loaine “Pat” Popovich followed her passions and built lifelong relationships everywhere she went and in everything she did, leaving behind a legacy of friendship for the places and causes close to her heart.

Seeking Adventure with an Open Heart

Born April 19, 1950, Pat’s youth was spent in Kailua, O‘ahu, before statehood, and though life would take her far away, the islands stayed with her throughout her life.

A flight attendant for 13 years, Pat liked to say that she lived in all four corners of the country: Hawai‘i, California, Arizona, Vermont, and finally, Austin, Texas, where she ended up in her signature fashion: by being open to friendship and new experiences. She fulfilled a childhood dream by earning her pilot's license, something she'd wanted to do since her first airplane ride at age six. In retirement, she was making plans to venture into podcasting, and made friends with classmates in a class to learn how to do it.

“Let life come at you and happen, and just go with the way it moves,” Popovich said on the podcast of one of her friends from the class. “I always want to try things. Just go for it.”

Pat’s open-hearted enthusiasm also extended to giving back. She was an avid volunteer at PBS, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, and various other organizations, and she became a strong advocate for a pastime that grew out of another childhood dream: to meet an Olympic athlete.

Pat took up curling, a sport she knew nothing about until discovering it late in life, then became an instructor, going to national competitions where she got to curl with Olympians, fulfilling her dream. As a founding member of the Lone Star Curling Club, she was often interviewed on local television and radio shows promoting curling in Austin, and she was the first recipient of the Stephen Thorne Memorial Award, created to lift up club members who exemplify the spirit of curling.

A Legacy of Friendship

Pat first heard about HCF following the Maui Wildfires, when she made a gift to the Maui Strong Fund. Later, when she was revising her estate plans, she reached out to HCF to inquire about how a gift to HCF when she passed would benefit the islands she carried in her heart throughout her life. Upon her sudden and unexpected passing in 2024, Pat’s estate included bequests supporting her curling club, animal welfare, and a significant gift to benefit her beloved Hawai‘i, in the form of the Loaine Pat Lewis Popovich Fund of HCF, an endowed designated fund that supports HCF's CHANGE Framework. Her generous legacy gift ensures that her love for her island home will live on, making a difference for the people and places of Hawai‘i for generations to come.

Pat traveled the world and, having grown up in Hawai‘i, her love for the islands and diversity of culture and people never left her,” says HCF Senior Director of Philanthropy Malia Peters. “It's a beautiful tribute to the aloha Pat carried with her from the islands throughout her life, and the strength of her friendships that Pat's friends also made generous donations to her namesake fund in her memory, contributing to her legacy of supporting Hawai‘i.”

It's a fitting legacy, given Pat’s enthusiastic approach to taking what life brings, that her gift provides HCF with the flexibility to advance its mission as critical needs emerge, such as responding to unplanned tragedies like the Maui fires. By supporting unrestricted funding for the CHANGE Framework, Pat’s fund embodies the same adaptability and readiness that characterized her approach to living.

“We didn't get an instruction book on our lives,” Pat said on her friend’s podcast. “We have to choose the days and what comes out of them, and make them good.”

Thanks to Pat’s legacy gift planning, she continues to make a meaningful difference for her beloved Hawai‘i and the people she cherished, reminding us that open-hearted friendship and generosity have the power to create indelible, uplifting change.

To learn more about the CHANGE Framework and/or Legacy Giving, please contact HCF Donor Services at (808) 566-5560 or donorservices@hcf-hawaii.org.