Danny Kamekona, 60, who played the bad guy in "Karate Kid Part II" and became one of Hawaii's best known actors, was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment yesterday.He had been dead several days in his bathroom, according to friends and family members.
The family yesterday was trying to contact his wife, Michiko, who was in the mountains of Japan at a reunion with her brothers and sisters, said his sister, Noelani Kamekona.
Kamekona's health was good although he had a heart valve replacement, his sister said. "His doctor told him to cool it." But he was "active and sociable, involved with his job and all the accouterments that come with it," she said. Tommy Igarashi, longtime friend, said Kamekona told him last week he was doing some commercials and was up for an interview for a big movie.
He had been in Los Angeles for about five months, flying back and forth from his Waialae home, Igarashi said.
Kamekona was born and raised in Hilo. His late father, Daniel Kaniela, was related to the standard bearer of Paa Kahili O Kamehameha. His mother, Vera Lani Kapu Makaea Aina Rose, 85, traces her lineage to Chief Kanekoa of Kau.
A Kamehameha Schools graduate, Kamekona began acting and singing as a youth. He performed with his sister in the Hawaii Youth Theater and later in the Hawaii Opera, Manoa Valley and Honolulu Community theaters.
But he didn't dream of an acting career until later; then he did it mostly for fun, he said once in an interview.
He appeared regularly in the "Hawaii Five-O," "Magnum, P.I." and "Burke's Law" television series. He had guest roles on the "Miami Vice" show and performed in other TV shows, pilots and movies. He became friends with Pat Morita while filming "Midway" in Hawaii.
He attended the University of Hawaii after leaving Kamehameha Schools, then went to Brigham Young University - Hawaii Campus, where he was voted "the man most likely to succeed," his sister said.
He had wide interests - painting, playing the clarinet, ukulele, guitar and other instruments, singing with a chorale and other groups and participating in community and sports activities.
She said he went to Osaka, Japan, for three years on a Mormon mission after BYU and came home with a bride. They have a son, Leigh Scott, and a daughter, Vera Lei.
"Danny had a special personality," Igarashi said. "He never thought because he was a movie actor that he was big time and snubbed anybody. He still had that Hawaiian aloha fun."
Akamine, 84, was born in Waialua. She is survived by daughter Jean K.
Memorial service: 2 p.m. May 4 at Hosoi Garden Mortuary. Casual attire. No flowers.
Donald H. "Don" Campbell of Captain Cook, Hawaii, a retired yacht captain who also worked at Water Taxi Travel, died April 29 at home.
Campbell, 64, a U.S. Navy veteran, was born in Atlanta. He is survived by sons Donald Jr. and Steve; sisters Marian E. Turner and Ernestine Holbert; and brother Robert L.
Scattering of ashes: 10 a.m. May 6 at Keauhou Bay in Kona, Hawaii. The boat named "Pamela" will depart at that time. Loose flowers and leis welcomed.
Connie L.L. Chang of Honolulu died April 29.
Chang, 46, was born in Indonesia. She is survived by husband Milton T.Y.; mother Wai Fong Cheng; and three sisters.
Mass: 9:30 a.m. May 8 at St. Augustine's Catholic Church, 130 Ohua Ave. Call after 9 a.m. Burial: Nuuanu Memorial Park. Aloha attire. No flowers. Donations may be made to Hospice Hawaii.
Paul J. Clackley of Pearl City died April 27 in Kapiolani Hospital at Pali Momi.
Clackley, 48, was born in Alabama. He is survived by wife Carol R.; sons Shane and Jason;
daughter Kellie; mother Georgia; brothers Buddy and Jack; and sister Diane Jennings.
Service with military honors: 10 a.m. May 7 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, main chapel. Call after 9 a.m. Private burial.
Rafaela R. Dacuycuy of Honolulu died April 26 in St. Francis Hospital.
Dacuycuy, 82, was born in the Philippines. She is survived by son Emmanuel; daughter Melrose Edralin; 10 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.
Service: 7 p.m. May 5 at Nuuanu Memorial Park Mortuary. Call after 6 p.m. Mass: 9 a.m. May 6 at St. Elizabeth Rectory, 99-312 Moanalua Road. Call after 8:30 a.m. Burial: Valley of the Temples. Casual attire.
John Fernandez of Kula, Maui, died May 1 in Hale Makua.
Fernandez, 82, was born in Waialua. He is survived by wife Rita; sons Joseph and Thomas; brother Frank; sisters Mary Rocha, Hilda C. Fook, Lucy Medeiros and Margaret Cooke; and two grandchildren.
Mass: 10 a.m. May 4 at Holy Ghost Church. Call after 9 a.m. Burial: church cemetery.
Dorothy T. Gordon of Kailua died April 29 in Kaiser Hospital.
Gordon, 71, was born in Kaneohe. She is survived by husband Robert L.; sons Robert L. Jr. and Ronald E.; daughter Diana Huihui; sister Hisako Sakamoto; and three grandchildren.
Service: 11 a.m. May 7 at Borthwick Mortuary. Call after 10 a.m. Burial: Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery, Kaneohe. Casual attire.
Maude Y. Higuchi of Hilo, a retired Hilo Union School teacher, died May 2 in the Life Care Center of Hilo.
Higuchi, 89, was born in Hilo. She is survived by son Ken R.; daughter Teruko M. Miller; brothers Myron K., Kazuo, Yoshio and Noboru Yanagihara; several half brothers and half sisters; and four grandchildren.
Memorial service: 2 p.m. May 5 at the Church of the Holy Cross. Call after 1 a.m. Casual attire.
Pa-Chi Hsieh of Honolulu died April 28 at home.
Hsieh, 82, was born in China. He is survived by sons Cek-Fyne and Patrick Tse; daughters Silvia and Man-Ha Tse; and four grandchildren.
Call from 1 to 4 p.m. May 6 at Borthwick Mortuary. Cremation to follow.
Bessie L.T. "Aunty Bessie" McCabe of Kaneohe died April 25 at home.
McCabe, 85, was born in Kaneohe. She is survived by children Clare Smith, and Wally, Ernest and Loriann Tavares; and six great-grandchildren.
Service: 7:30 p.m. May 7 at Hawaiian Memorial Park Mortuary. Call after 6 p.m. Mass: 10 a.m. May 8 at St. Ann's Catholic Church. Call after 8:30 a.m. Burial: Hawaiian Memorial Park.
Alejandro P. Mendoza of Honolulu, a Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association retiree, died April 27 at home.
Mendoza, 85, was born in the Philippines. He is survived by wife Hilda T.; daughter Cheryl Libarios; sons Wayne and Alex Jr.; sister Isabele Raza; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Service: noon May 4 at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church. Call after 11 a.m. Burial: Valley of the Temples. No flowers.
Sunao Migita of Honolulu, head instructor at Shobukan Judo Club, died April 30 in Kuakini Hospital.
Migita, 96, was born in Kumamoto, Japan. He is survived by wife Yachiyo; son Lloyd K.; daughters Violet C. Kinoshita, Hazel K. Tanigawa and Rose Y. Chung; brothers Masaharu and Robert T.; 12 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and a great-great-grandchild.
Memorial service: 6:30 p.m. May 7 at Nuuanu Memorial Park Mortuary. Casual attire. No flowers.
Mary Bodell Pecsok of San Diego, formerly of Honolulu, author of "Gullible's Travels," died April 2.
Pecsok, 76, was born in Plymouth, Mass. She is survived by husband Robert; children Helen,
Katherine, Jean, Michael, Ruth, Alice and Sara; brother David; and seven grandchildren.
Private scattering of ashes.
An obituary published May 2 misidentified Pecsok. It incorrectly reported her name as Vickie Pecsok, her daughter-in-law.
Elvin M. Runnels of Kaneohe died April 28 in Castle Hospital.
Runnels, 62, was born in Wahiawa. He is survived by wife Annabelle L.; son Haven P.; daughters Sharmayne M. Schilling and RhodaAnn N. Woods; and three grandchildren.
Service: 10 a.m. May 7 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 45-150 Waikalua Road. Call after 8:30 a.m. Burial: Valley of the Temples. Aloha/casual attire.
Roy B.H. Santo of Pearl City, a food service worker for Kuakini Medical Center's Dietary Department, died April 30 in Pearl City.
Santo, 24, was born in Honolulu. He is survived by parents Dennis D. and Noriko; brother Kevin T.; sisters Elaine M. Santo and Karen A.S. Verdadero; and grandmother Kimiyo Yamada.
Service: 6 p.m. May 7 at Hosoi Garden Mortuary. Cremation to follow. Casual attire. No flowers.
Henry A. Shimomaye of Hono lulu, former owner of S.J.D. Radiator Service Inc., died April 28 in Queen's Hospital.
Shimomaye, 68, was born in Honolulu. He is survived by wife Dorothy H.; daughters Shari-Ann M.S. Isobe, and Jo-Anne A. and Debbie R. Shimomaye; and two grandchildren.
Memorial service: 6:30 p.m. May 6 at Nuuanu Memorial Park Mortuary. Casual attire. No flowers.
Satoru Tanita of Waimea, Kauai, a retired carpenter for Gay and Robinson Sugar Co., died April 29 at home.
Tanita, 84, was born in Waimea, Kauai. He is survived by wife Kiku yo; sons Frederick, Warren and Clyde; brothers Tamotsu and Mitsuyoshi Hiraoka, and Satoshi and Akiharu Tanita; sister Koharu Kawamura; and three grandchildren.
Private services.
Rodney M. Tsuji of Richmond Hill, Canada, formerly of Honolulu, died April 7 in Canada.
Tsuji, 51, was born in Hawaii. He is survived by wife June C.; parents Clarence and Lillian; and brothers Gary and Gene.
Services held.
Toki Uchida of Wahiawa, a Del Monte retiree, died April 28 in Kapiolani Hospital at Pali Momi.
Uchida, 76, was born in Waialua. He is survived by wife Fusako; sons Ralph K. and Roland K.; daughters Patricia F. Uchida and Kathryn M. Tancayo; brother Barney "Megumi"; sisters Saburo Koizumi, Agnes Enomoto and Janet Enga; and five grandchildren.
Private services.
Catherine L. Wilson of Honolulu, a nurse for Queen's Medical Center and nurse supervisor for Hale Ho Aloha and Kings Daugh/ ters Homes, died April 30 in Kaiser Hospital.
Wilson, 81, was born in Honolulu. She is survived by sons Arthur Jr., Anthony, Allan, Alward "Gully," Armon and Alvin "Skippy"; daughters Annette Mitchell, Arlene Helekahi and Alexa Armpriester; brother Lindo Kinney; and several grandchildren, great- grandchildren and great-great- grandchildren.
Service: noon May 8 at Diamond Head Mortuary. Call after 8 a.m. Burial: Diamond Head Memorial Park. Casual attire.
James M.K. Wyatt of Eatonville, Wash., formerly of Hawaii, the first known student with AIDS to attend a Hawaii public school, died April 27 in Eatonville.
Wyatt, 13, was born in Sacramento, Calif. He is survived by parents Michael and Francine; sisters Tiffany, Sarah and Karen; half sister Michele Garnet; and grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Alex Olszowka and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wyatt.
Service: noon May 6 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 99-641 Pohue St. Call after 11 a.m. Burial: Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery, Kaneohe.
Sumie Yoshioka of Mililani died April 29 in Wahiawa General Hospital.
Yoshioka, 81, was born in Waialua. She is survived by husband Yoshio; daughters Jean D'Ambrosia and Lois Lim; sisters Yukie Miura, Louise Yamada and Ayako Sakumoto; and three grandchildren.
Memorial service: 1 p.m. May 5 at Mililani Mortuary-Waipio makai chapel. Casual attire. No flowers.