Victor Kaiwi Pang's Obituary
Victor Kaiwi Pang passed away on Wednesday, April 5, 2018 (Nana ʻOlekūkahi) after a 2-month battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma. He was 80. Kaiwi was a charter member of ʻĀinahau o Kaleponi Hawaiian Civic Club and founded the Mainland Council (Nā Lei Makalapua), serving as itʻs first Council President. His work through the Hawaiian civic clubs proposed tuition waivers for non-resident Hawaiians attending the University of Hawaiʻi system, advocated for the “Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI)” disagregation of data used by the US Census Bureau; brought awareness of incarcerated native Hawaiians at Saguaro Correctional Center, Arizona, and authored a resolution which now allows letters in ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi for inmates.
A strong leader for the Hawaiian community on the continent, he served as a delegate to the ʻAha Hawaii ʻŌiwi Native Hawaiian Convention and initiated Hawaiian language classes in Southern California in 1993. He also founded the Pacific Islander Community Council (1991), the Pacific Islander Health Partnership (2003), the Asian American Pacific Islander Senior Coalition (2000), and Aloha Seniors (2003). Seeing the importance of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, he facilitated the first Hawaiian sovereignty workshop to California in 1992. He coordinated with the Mainland Council Polynesian Voyaging Societyʻs and Hōkūleʻaʻs week-long visit to Long Beach in 1995. As a health advocate, he coordinated ʻAha Kaleponi Native Hawaiian Health Summit with Papa Ola Lōkahi (2002). For 22 years, he coordinated weekend intensive workshops on Hawaiian culture, language, and family values called ʻOhana Retreat for families residing on the continent.
Kaiwi spent the last twenty years advocating for health access and equity for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders and senior services. He was an advisor for AmeriCorps Working to Enhance the Care and Resources for Elders (WECARE) from 2006-2010; served on the Asian American Advancing Justice Advisory Board; community researcher for the National Cancer Instituteʻs Weaving an Islander Network for Cancer Awareness Research and Training (WINCART ) from 2006-2016; and was trainer and host facilitator for the Ulu Network (JABSOM) for heart disease, diabetes, weight management and improving lifestyle intervention. As a seven- year breast cancer survivor, he served on Susan G. Komenʻs National Advisory Council. He also served as Board Vice President for the Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum and the US Census Racial Ethnic Advisory Committee.
Awards and Honors
1994 Ke Poʻokela Award-Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs
1994, 2017 Pualeilani Award-Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs
1999 Kalanianaʻole Award-Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs
2001 Menʻs Health Advocate-Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Alliance
2004 Hope Award-Intercultural Cancer Council
2007 Alii Leadership Award-Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Town Hall
2008 Pioneer Award- Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Alliance
2011 Kaʻōnohi Award-Papa Ola Lōkahi, Native Hawaiian Health Care System
2012 Dr. Harold Freeman-American Cancer Society
Kaiwi grew up in Wailuku, Maui and graduated from St. Anthony High School in 1956. His father, Peter Quon Cheu Pang (Aki) was the executive chef for the Wailuku Hotel, and his mother Mary (Akiona) worked for Maui Pineapple.
After serving two years with the US Army, Kaiwi moved to California where he married his wife of 50 years, Jane Kaʻala Mock. He worked for 35 years as an aerospace engineer with Rockwell International working on the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions. He is survived by his wife, his 2 sons, Benton Kealiikiamoku, and Edmund Kamekona, his wife Wendy; and 4 grandchildren, Kiana Keakealani, Mākena Kaleilokelani, Kālia Kamaluʻuluolele, and Tayden Kalua; sisters Lea Williams, Mei Mailou-Santos and brother Randy Saito. Victor was preceded in death by his parents, Mary Amoi Akiona and Peter Quon Cheu Pang, and his sister Denise Hopkins.
Kaiwiʻs services will be being held on Friday, May 11, 2018 (Welo Kāne) at Diamond Head Mortuary, 535 18th Ave, Honolulu. Visitation: 10:30 a.m.; Services: 11:30 a.m. Lunch reception to follow. Internment: 2:00 p.m. at Diamond Head Memorial Park.
He kama hānai o ka ʻāina o nā wai ʻehā. Ho'olokuloku ka ua, ka waimaka. Luʻu ka ua koko i kou ʻāina hānau! A child reared in the lands of the four waters. The rains pour. The heavy rains drench the land of your birth!
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