Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 8, 1 August 2001 — A tribute to 'The Chief' | [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A tribute to 'The Chief' |

On June 21 , Retired Trustee Abraham Aiona passed away. He was 75. Elected to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board ofTrustees in 1990 and 1994, he represented the island of Maui. During his tenure, he served as chairman of the Budget and Finance, and Policy committees. He also served as vice chair of the board. Following is the abridged eulogy given by OHATrustee Clayton Hee atTrustee Aiona's memorial services on Maui and in Waimānalo.

By Trustee Clayton Hee Aloha iā kākou pākahi a pau. The Chief has left. And the oeean is red with the āweoweo and ala'ihi. The Chief is gone. And the makani kili'o'opu is still. Ua lilo ke ali'i i ka lā, a i ka pō e pā mai ka 'ohu, a e kau ka 'ohu i loko o ko mākou pu'uwai. The chief has heeome the day, he has heeome the night and we have succumbed to the mist, as we have heeome the mist, whose hearts grieve for our loss. The Chief, Abraham Aiona, set the standard at OHA. His honesty and his vision formed the framework for the OHA trust asset base. He is the chief designer of the trust asset base and its allocation. He is the one whose main goal was to make so mueh money for OHA, that no one, not you and not me, would be capable of wasting it away. That was Abe Aiona. To be sure Abe was mueh more.

There's no doubt in my mind that I was one of the most fortunate. I got Abe after he had "been there and done that." I was the lucky one. Unlike his beloved wife, Rosie, I got Abe when there

were no more personal mountains of achievement to climb. I got Abe when there was but one mission, one goal and one focus. And that was, "do good for your people." Abe faithfiilly dischaiged his duties as a husband, a soldier, a poliee officer, a county eouneil member, a trustee, a cit-

izen and most of all, a son of Hawai'i. A man of politics, he knew victory and he knew defeat. And Abe has left his mark on me. I admired him and looked up to him, and loved him as a son would love a father.

And for all of us, Abe was a great man who made his mark on those he has touched and left a legacy for history. A great man is a man who has looked through the confusion of the moment and has

seen the moral issue. It is a man who has refused to allow his sense of justice to be compromised, it is a man who has listened to his conscience. Abe, the Chief, was truly a man by whose point of view we will measure ourselves. If everyone to whom he gave some loving service were to

bring a single blossom to his grave, Abe would sleep beneath a thousand blankets of leis. 1 have admired two men in my life, both who gave everything of themselves, so that others would benefit by it. The first man is my

father. The other is Abe Aiona. Abe's gift of helping people is exemplified everyday, everywhere in Hawai'i. Perhaps his greatest gift, might be the gift of life, where, but for Abe. the kidney dialysis eenter of Kaunakakai would not be a reality today. That was Abraham Aiona. An extraordinary man who unselfishly gave of himself for everyone he touched. How extraordinary. As you see him for the last time today look closely at him. Look at the shirt he is wearing. It is that of the Hawaiian flag and the nēnē goose. This son of Hawai'i wears a Hawaiian flag into eternity. This son of Hawai'i wears also the nēnē goose - one of the rarest of creatures made by God. That is Abe Aiona. We will all miss him. To Abe Jr., Nan, Ellen, Taka and the rest of his beloved family, we share our grief with you and celebrate his reconnection with Rosie. ■

Trustee Abraham Aiona 1925-2001