LIHU‘E — Sharon Pomroy passed away Tuesday morning. She never regained consciousness after suffering a seizure and heart attack last Wednesday during a candidates meet and greet event in Wailua. “Sharon passed away at around 8:15 a.m.,” said Paul Pomroy,
LIHU‘E — Sharon Pomroy passed away Tuesday morning. She never regained consciousness after suffering a seizure and heart attack last Wednesday during a candidates meet and greet event in Wailua.
“Sharon passed away at around 8:15 a.m.,” said Paul Pomroy, who was with Sharon at Wilcox Memorial Hospital for the past week and when she passed on Tuesday.
Sharon Pomroy, 64, suffered a seizure and heart attack Wednesday in Wailua, just after delivering her remarks as one of 11 candidates for Kaua‘i Trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in the November elections. She continued breathing without life-support when the family made the decision to take her off around midday Sunday.
Pomroy’s only other sibling, Onaona Maly, returned to O‘ahu on Monday evening. Paul spent the night with Sharon and said she rested peacefully as nurses came in to turn her and perform medical duties.
Sharon took a turn for the worse around 7:45 a.m. The day nurse administered morphine to keep her comfortable.
By this time Paul’s spouse, Noelani, came in and noticed a change in Sharon’s demeanor. She struggled briefly and her breathing lessened.
“My wife and I were there and Sharon went peacefully,” Paul said. At 8:15 a.m. the feeling was that she had passed. The doctor came in around 10 minutes later and pronounced her dead.”
Pomroy will be cremated. The family is planning for a memorial service at her Anahola farm to take place in two to three weeks.
Paul said that Sharon maintained an internal struggle with gender issues, just as she did with her Hawaiian identity while in public service to her state and nation.
At home she was a supportive person who loved her ‘ohana, Paul said. She loved to share what she knew as a professional chef, and her vast knowledge of Hawaiian life-skills and culture.
Sharon was born Peter Pomroy on Oct. 10, 1949, on O‘ahu. It was around 1980 that Peter transitioned and changed her name to Sharon, according to Paul.
Sharon felt she was a woman and struggled with that, Paul said. It was devastating to deal with and she reached a point where she changed her name. It sometimes was a challenge not to confuse people when discussing Sharon, Paul said.
“Now, I say he was my sister,” Paul said. “We all accepted it and we loved him no matter what.”
Paul said that it is important to put the gender issues in perspective when remembering Sharon. The inner struggle was personal but her work on issues that mattered to her were much larger in her eyes. “Sharon would much rather be remembered for all of the various things that she has done in her life,” Paul said.
Sharon was a veteran of the Merchant Marines. She worked as a state correctional officer but moved on and focused on Native Hawaiian culture and advocating rights issues, teaching Hawaiian studies in schools and supporting various cultural projects.
“She wanted others to connect with their past with the hope that interest would grow and flourish in the future,” Paul said. “She placed great importance on culture.”
Sharon was a proponent of the Superferry at a time when it was not popular. She didn’t always believe in the same things but did what she felt was the right thing, Paul said.
Sharon was appointed to the Governor’s Ahu Moku Council in 2007. Her first attempt to run for an elected seat came in 2012 for OHA.
Sharon’s parents have both passed on, Walter in 2006, and Irmalee (Adams) Pomroy in 2009. She is survived by a brother, Paul, his spouse, Noelani, their two sons, their two daughters and their six grandchildren; a sister, Onaona (Maly), her husband Kepa, their two sons, their one daughter and their six grandchildren.
Sharon had two dogs, Bosco and Henry, who are now with two close friends Kane and Lori Fitzgerald
People with videos of Sharon are invited to contact Paul Pomroy at ppomroy@live.com.
