Eroni Kumana, who lived his entire life on a tiny Pacific island called Rannoga, about 900 miles east of New Guinea, in a village without electricity, telephone service, running water or a paved road, left his mark on the history of the world on or about Aug. 5 and 6, 1943.

That was when he and a fellow boatman, Biuku Gasa, were credited with spotting and rescuing Navy Lt. John F. Kennedy and members of his PT-109 crew, nearly a week after their boat had been destroyed by a Japanese warship in the Solomon Islands.

The future 35th president of the United States and his men were exhausted and starving. Mr. Kumana and Mr. Gasa gave them what food they had. Then Mr. Kumana built them a fire, the way he usually did — by rubbing two sticks together.

When he died at 96 on Aug. 3 in his native village of Kongu, the monuments he left behind consisted mainly of the innumerable carved canoes and grass huts he had built or helped build during his lifetime, said Rellysdom A. Malakana, his grandson.