The surname "Uyehara" is sometimes spelled "Uehara" in Romaji or Western writing. It is a very common name in Okinawa. Although there are hundreds of families in Hawaii that go by either of these names, our Uyehara family is actually very small.

Kamei Uyehara first arrived on Maui in 1918 around the same time as his father, Yoei. The 1920 United States Federal Census shows Kamei was working as a laborer at the sugar plantation in Wailuku. He married Fumito (also known as Fumi) Uyehara in Honolulu on 01 Feb 1924, and had seven children.

The couple lived in Laie where Kamei worked at a store and thereafter, in Malaekahana where he worked for and lived on the grounds of the Spalding family. Later, he moved to Honolulu and was employed as a groundskeeper for the Church of Latter Day Saints' Makiki Ward for over 40 years.

On 18 Jun 1958, Fumi suffered a stroke while attending the funeral of a family friend in Kahuku. As did Yoei, Kamei died peacefully in his sleep on 04 Aug 1993 in his Honolulu home.