Olivia Robello Breitha, whose autobiography "My Life of Exile in Kalaupapa" was a compelling and inspirational account of life as a Hansen's disease patient on Moloka'i's isolated peninsula, died there yesterday at age 90.

"Olivia was a no-holds-barred woman who, if she had an opinion, would share it with you regardless of how you would take it," said Loretta Zahner, a Kalaupapa Health Services Care Home nurse, of her next-door neighbor. "She was feisty, passionate, quick-witted and intelligent.

"For those who don't know what Kalaupapa is and was, her story of what happened in life to a 'normal girl' ... because she was diagnosed and how it totally changed (her life), it's a real boost of knowledge," Zahner said.

In May 2003, Breitha wrote of Kalaupapa: "What once was a prison is a paradise to me now. Despite the threat of an uncertain future, of budget cuts and a dwindling patient population, this is the place where, God willing, I hope to remain. I have lived on this remote peninsula since the SS Hawaii delivered me here on June 30, 1937. I was a number then, Number 3306.

"This is my patient identification number to this day. But I am not just a number now. I have finally regained the sense of dignity that was taken from me when I was a child. It's taken a long time for me to feel this way again. I'm glad I stuck it out."

Breitha was among the Kalaupapa residents featured in Hawai'i filmmaker Stephanie Castillo's 1993 Emmy Award-winning documentary "Simple Courage" on the handling of leprosy patients here during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

"The tragedy for her was because of this, she was taken out of society, she chose not to have children of her own — and she loved children — and she was never able to return (to life outside of Kalaupapa)," Castillo said.

In 1934, Olivia Robello was 18 and about to be married when she was suspected of having leprosy. At the time, all those diagnosed with the disease in Hawai'i were forcibly taken from their families and sent to Kalaupapa.

Castillo said Breitha told her that when she was first picked up, officials only suspected she had leprosy. "She told me the reason she was sent to Kalaupapa was that she kept running away (while quarantined for observation) and that she contracted (the disease) while at Kalaupapa," Castillo said.

The cover photo of Breitha's book shows her in an unsmiling pose with her arms crossed and someone holding a Kalihi Hospital sign with her admitting date and patient number.

"Olivia said the photographer asked her to hold the board and she said no," Castillo recalled. "The photographer then asked her to smile and she said no. She told him, 'Why should I smile? You get to get out of here. I have to stay.' "

At Kalaupapa, Robello married fellow patient Johnny Breitha. "I'm sad for her death," Castillo said, "but I'm comforted to know that Olivia is with her husband, the love of her life. She liked saying, 'Johnny's waiting for me. I'm coming, Johnny.' "

Olivia Breitha died at the care home at 12:40 a.m., reducing the Kaulapapa registry number to 33 patients. Mike McCarten, state Health Department administrator of the settlement, said a noon Catholic Mass was held for Breitha and she was buried next to her husband. Services and burials at Kalaupapa are done quickly because it lacks facilities to preserve bodies.

Clarence "Sonny" Silva, Breitha's cousin, will bring recording artist Jeff Linsky with him for a concert Monday at Kalaupapa. The concert initially was planned as a belated birthday gift for Breitha, said Silva.

Lorenzo DeStefano of British Columbia, also a cousin, said Breitha was inspired to write her book when she heard the word "leper" used in an episode of TV's "MASH." "We can't imagine the pain the word causes people and it's a dreaded word," DeStefano said.

Breitha once wrote: "My name is Olivia. It's not L-E-P-E-R. ... I wrote a book because I wanted people to know what I feel, what I felt, how much I struggled, fighting the disease, fighting ignorance, fighting bureaucrats, fighting that hurtful word. ... Trying not to be a statistic — trying to be a person."

Zahner said she saw Breitha on Wednesday. Breitha was smiling, looking forward to watching her new geraniums grow.

Survivors include nieces Rose Pescaia of Moloka'i and Tammy Nascimento, said DeStefano.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.