Faith Inouye

Faith Inouye
Age: 92
Born:  Wahiawa, Hawai`i
Photographer: Leilani Kanagawa, Age 13 ~ Wahiawa Middle School
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Mrs. Inouye was born and raised in Wahiawa and lived with her parents and eight sisters and six brothers in a house on Kamehameha Highway, now the site of Judy’s Flowers. She was born at home since there were no hospitals in the area. Mrs. Inouye worked for Wahiawa General Hospital for 20 years as a payroll clerk and after retiring, worked 23 years at Iliahi Elementary School as the cafeteria lunchroom monitor collecting lunch money from the students.
Takano Mama, that’s what we called her, was the midwife for my mother’s last six children. Takano’s Store, right across the street from us, sold groceries.  Takano Mama raised vegetables and pigs at home. We always went there to watch her feed the squealing pigs. Good fun! I kind of miss her.
As a child, we stayed home most of the time because we had a lot of sisters and brothers, and my parents were sort of strict. We had plenty of playmates at home and always went everywhere as a group. Sometimes we were allowed to go to the movies at the Wahiawa or Victory Theaters or go to the skating rink and when we were older, my father would take some of us to Haleiwa Beach in his Model T.
My family all got along together. We were always busy. There were so many of us, my sisters helped one another and I would like to thank my brothers for taking such good care of us and helping the family. My dad was a butcher for stores like Highway Market and he raised chickens in the backyard. The chickens used to live in our trees and our job was to pick up the eggs in the mornings.
My family is my greatest gift. My mom and dad were really good because they gave us as much as they could and we helped each other. It’s important for the younger generation to remember to care for each other and to be kind to everyone.

Dana Okuma

I was born at Wahiawa General Hospital in 1999.  Since my whole family grew up in Wahiawa, I thought it would be important to participate in this project so I could learn about old Wahiawa. I chose to participate because I also knew that connecting to the older Wahiawa community would help me become a better contributor to our society. Dana Okuma
Age 16
Leilehua High School
Photographer: Laurie Callies
Kūpuna Sadao “Tubs” Honda
Age 93
One of our family’s traditions and my favorite things to do in Wahiawa is to eat at Shige’s Saimin Restaurant and get ice cream afterwards.  I also love that we are so close to the North Shore that we can get shave ice on the weekends. I like to compete in swim meets, do arts and crafts, play with my five-year-old cousin and take pictures of my dog.  I hope to go to Creighton University and study pharmacology.

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