Veary was a child prodigy, singing in church before she was old enough to go to school. Her early role models were sopranos Deanna Durbin and Jeanette MacDonald. Her parents, both of Hawaiian ancestry, encouraged her, but did not have the financial means to provide her with musical training. She was put on a career path by teacher Irmgard (Gardie) Thompson, leading to her singing on the radio and receiving favorable recognition. At age 10, she was profiled in The Honolulu Advertiser, resulting in a music scholarship at Punahou School.[1]
As a teenager, Veary was sent to New York City to be trained at Carnegie Hall as a lyric Coloratura soprano .[3] While there, she was exposed to the Broadway theatre productions of that era, and aspired to expand her repertoire to be inclusive of multiple forms of vocal expression.[4]
Upon her return home, Veary appeared one evening a week on radio station KGMB with Andy Cummings.[5] She enrolled at Roosevelt High School, graduating in 1949,[6] subsequently enrolling in the University of Hawaii as a music major.[7] In 1951, she married United States Navy aviator Robert Moss and moved with him to California.[8] For the next several years, she raised her two daughters and performed in stage productions, occasionally returning to Hawaii.[9] Veary divorced in 1963 and moved to New York to resume her career in stage musicals.[10]
In the 1960s, Veary returned to live in Hawaii, marrying local radio personality J. Akuhead Pupule, and becoming a staple in local stage productions and Waikiki hotel showrooms.[11] In a 1966 stage production of Flower Drum Song, Veary assumed the role of Helen Chao, with James Shigeta, Miyoshi Umeki and Jack Soo reprising their movie roles.[12] When reviewing her show at the Coral Terrace of the Halekulani on the beach at Waikiki, The Honolulu Advertiser entertainment editor Wayne Harada referred to her as, "a diamond in the proper setting."[13] In 1980, Veary was still associated with the Halekulani and married to businessman Richard Ireland.[14]
She collaborated with music entrepreneur Jack de Mello, on a number of her record albums.[15]
Veary retired to Maui, but remains an active performer. In 2010, she gave a concert at the Baldwin Home on Maui.[16] In 2018, she performed with Robert CazimeroinWailea.[17]
^"Emma Veary Enhances Monarch Room's Show". Honolulu Star-Bulletin at Newspapers.com. May 3, 1967. p. 67. Retrieved June 23, 2018.; Sherman, Eddie (June 23, 1968). "Note To You". Newspapers.com. p. 27. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
; Crost, Lyn (December 19, 1940). "Punahou Scholarship Given Little Songbird". The Honolulu Advertiser at Newspapers.com. p. 1. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
