Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 8, 1 August 2015 — Remembering a mentor: Judge Nelson K. Doi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Remembering a mentor: Judge Nelson K. Doi

worked for Judge Doi as a Probation Officer when he served as a Judge with the Third Circuit Court. The first time I met Judge Doi personally was in December 1970. I was busy working on a report when our Director Sadao Nishida eame into my office to tell me Judge Doi wanted to see me in his chambers. The conversation sort

of went like this. I asked Mr. Nishida, "Why?" His response was worrisome. "It's about a pre-sentence report you worked on. He's probably going to ehew you out about it. I'll take you over to see him." "He wants to see me now?" "Yep and we must not keep him waiting." As I walked by one of my colleagues, Don Kobatake, laughingly said, "Bob, make sure you bring some Kleenex." My blood pressure shot up to 200 over 200. We walked to his ehambers, whieh was only a hundred steps from the Probation Department. I had only seen pictures of Judge Doi to that point, but there he was in the flesh sitting at his desk reading a file that he didn't take his eyes off of for a time. I could see my pre-sentence report sitting in the middle of his desk. Something was written across the top in big red letters. I could not make out what it was. He finally put what he was reading down, peered at both of us over top of his dark-rimmed glasses and asked us to sit down. Typical of Judge Doi, he got straight to the point: "Lindsey, you wrote this report?" "Yes, I did." "Are you sure?" Yes." "Are you sure?" "Yes." He put his hand out and shook my hand.

Thanks to Judge Doi that report became a template for Probation Officers to use across the Judiciary. That first impression became a lasting impression; it provided a platform for a lasting friendship. I had the honor of being called into his chamber from time to time to chat about cases we were working on, the law and Hawaiian issues, in particular Sonny Kani-

ho's battle with DHHL regarding its general lease policy. From him, I learned about gaman and other Japanese values. He became a mentor reminding me often that we are put on this earth to do good, good for our family, our community and our state. Judge Doi loved softball. We played for the Court team and our games were played at Gilbert Carvalho Park. Judge was our pitcher. I found out how competitive he was. We shared something in eommon. We both did not enjoy losing. In 1974, soon after he was elected Lieutenant Governor, he called me and offered me a staff job working alongside Mason Altiery, who served as his Communications Director. I ended up staying put with the Probation Department for another three years. Judge Doi did not hold my choosing not to follow him against me. In 1982 when I was elected to the State House, he was one of my staunchest supporters. In recent times, we'd visit at Supercuts in Waimea talking about times gone by. Judge will forever remain a treasured mentor, a friend, a ehampion of the rule of law and the small guy's best advocate. Yes, we will miss his physical and fiery presence, but his legacy remains imprinted forever in fond and speeial memories of him and the values he imprinted upon us: Honesty; Truth; Justice; and Fair Play. ■

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Rūbert K. Lindsey, Jr. Chair, TrustEE, Hawai'i