A funeral service for Merrie Monarch Festival hula legend Dorothy "Auntie Dottie" Thompson has been scheduled for April 17 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Hilo.

Friends are invited to call from 8 a.m. until mass at noon. Entombment will follow at Homelani Memorial Park Mausoleum.

Thompson, who died March 19 at the age of 88, co-founded the Merrie Monarch Festival and served as its executive director. She also served as culture and arts director for the Hawai'i County Department of Parks and Recreation and managed the Aloha Week Festival on the Big Island from 1970 to 1975.