HONOLULU — Gov. Linda Lingle announced Friday that the Hawai‘i state flag at state and county buildings throughout Hawai‘i will fly at half-staff today, from sunrise to sunset, in honor of former State Senator Henry T. “Hank” Takitani, who died
HONOLULU — Gov. Linda Lingle announced Friday that the Hawai‘i state flag at state and county buildings throughout Hawai‘i will fly at half-staff today, from sunrise to sunset, in honor of former State Senator Henry T. “Hank” Takitani, who died earlier this month at the age of 85.
The governor’s proclamation also encourages residents to display the state flag at half-staff at their homes and businesses today. Memorial services for Takitani will be held on Maui today.
“Sen. Takitani devoted his life and career to helping others, championing higher education throughout the state, especially on the neighbor islands,” Lingle said in a press release.
Prior to entering politics, Takitani joined the Army and was assigned to Company K of the highly decorated 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, the release said. He later earned an economics degree from Illinois College before returning to Maui to join the family business.
With the encouragement of his friends from the Army, Takitani ran for office, drawing much support through a successful grass-roots campaign.
Elected to the state House of Representatives in 1968, Takitani made a successful run for the Senate, where he served for 10 years. He greatly valued education and served as chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, where he worked to expand the University of Hawai‘i as a way to give local students a viable option for college without leaving home, the release said.
In addition to improving the university academically, he also advocated the building of more dormitories on the Manoa campus and improving Maui Technical College, which later joined the University of Hawai‘i system as Maui Community College.
“Hawai‘i is a richer place because of dedicated public servants like Henry T. Takitani, who was committed to strengthening our community and helping our residents thrive,” Lingle said. “Sen. Takitani will be deeply missed, and our hearts and prayers go out to his wife Shirley; daughters Sheila Kawahara, Cheryl Takitani-Smith and Roxanne Teshima; six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.”
