Hawai‘i’s U.S. Rep. from 1963 to 1977 and U.S. Senator for 13 years beginning in 1977, Spark Masayuki Matsunaga (1916-1990) was born at McBryde Sugar Co.’s Kukuiula Camp and moved to Puolo Road in Hanapepe in the early 1920s after
Hawai‘i’s U.S. Rep. from 1963 to 1977 and U.S. Senator for 13 years beginning in 1977, Spark Masayuki Matsunaga (1916-1990) was born at McBryde Sugar Co.’s Kukuiula Camp and moved to Puolo Road in Hanapepe in the early 1920s after his father hired on as a stevedore at nearby Port Allen.
While his father worked the docks, his mother made tofu that Sparky delivered in his wagon with Poru, his pet pig, following along. Sparky later recalled, “Regardless of how poor we were, we’d never steal and we’d never beg. And if there were times when one of the children would receive food of some kind, he [my father] would raise holy hell with us for getting food from others. He thought that would be tantamount to begging.”
Sparky acquired his distinctive nickname while growing up in Hanapepe, when for a time he was younger and slower than his playmates. One day, an older boy declared, “Hey, you slower than ol’ Sparky, the nag,” the nag being the worn-out horse featured in the comic strip “Barney Google and Snuffy Smith” that was continually finishing last in races.
Thereafter, Masayuki was known as Sparky, and he would eventually legally change his name to Spark Masayuki Matsunaga.
Following graduation from Kaua‘i High School in 1933, college was out of the question, since his father had been injured and Sparky was needed at home to help support the family.
But his fortunes changed in 1937 when he won the $1,000 first prize in The Garden Island newspaper’s subscription contest. He gave $600 to his parents and asked their permission to attend the University of Hawai‘i.
When they consented, he packed and left Kaua‘i at Nawiliwili aboard the weekly overnight steamship Waialeale that sailed for Honolulu.
