Dee Duponte

Adelia Ashby "Dee" Duponte (born Adelia Ashby; 1908/1909 – April 22, 1971) was an American politician. She was a Democratic Representative and later Senator for Maui in the Hawaii Territorial Legislature. Her term as Territorial Senator ended in 1957. In 1958, she attempted suicide in her Waikiki apartment and was subsequently hospitalized until her death in 1971.

Born in Augusta, Indiana, Duponte moved to the Territory of Hawaii from Kentucky and held a supervisory position at the Maui Pineapple Company for 14 years. Her 1948 firing made her a household name on Maui after she claimed that it was motivated by her husband's campaign to be County Attorney as a Democrat, and additionally led to an upset election the same year in which the Republicans were widely defeated. In 1950, Duponte was elected to the House of Representatives in the Hawaii Territorial Legislature after beginning her campaign late in the election season. As of 1951, she was the only woman Democrat in the Territorial Legislature. Her political views made her a controversial figure in the Territorial House.

In 1954, Duponte was elected to the Hawaii Territorial Senate. The same year, Duponte moved from Maui to Honolulu, separating from her husband after he had an extramarital affair and fathered a child. Her term in the Hawaii Territorial Senate ended in 1957, and she and her husband were divorced in 1958. On November 20, 1958, she attempted suicide in her Waikiki apartment after discovering that her husband had remarried. She survived a self-inflicted gunshot to her head, and was hospitalized for over a decade before her eventual death, experiencing partial paralysis. She died in April 1971, at the age of 61 or 63.

Early life and career Duponte was born Adelia Ashby in Augusta, Indiana. In 1937 or 1931, she married Harold Duponte. and was chairperson of Maui's Democratic County Committee. While in the Territorial House of Representatives, Duponte became a controversial figure as a result of her opinions about who should be appointed to legislative committees as well as her criticism of conditions at Kalaupapa Settlement. She gained the political support of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

In 1954, Duponte was elected to the Hawaii Territorial Senate. Her political views remained controversial and sometimes led her Democratic colleagues to openly disavow her.

In 1957, Duponte was working as director of employee training for Hawaiian Pineapple Company in addition to her position in the Territorial Senate. 600 women employees staged a one-day walkout, reportedly in response to difficulties caused by her. The Star-Bulletin reported that Duponte responded to a report of the walkout by saying "Fiddlesticks!" a year after Duponte's term in the Territorial Senate ended and three months after she was divorced from Harold Duponte, she attempted suicide in her apartment in Waikiki

After the suicide attempt, Duponte was hospitalized for over a decade before her eventual death.

In September 1959 the Star-Bulletin reported that Duponte had been transferred from Queen's Hospital to Maluhia Hospital and was awake, alert, and able to feed herself; she remained unable to walk and was paralyzed on her left side and partially paralyzed on her right. She was allowed to leave the hospital for short periods. Doctors reported that she seemed unaware of her suicide attempt as a result of amnesia or enforced amnesia, and that she had been told that she had experienced a stroke. at the age of 61 or 63 on April 22, 1971 at Maluhia Hospital. A Funeral Mass was held for her at St Anthony's Church in Wailuku, and her body was buried in a family plot at Kuau Cemetery.