His health was fragile because of diabetes and he recently had the flu, said his wife, Maryanne Tefft Force.
Under Force's leadership, Bishop Museum expanded "from a significant museum of Hawaii and of the Pacific to an internationally known museum," Frank Radovsky said from Corvallis, Ore., where he has retired and is doing research.
"More than anything, what held the museum together (under Force) and allowed it to expand and achieve things in areas of research and exhibits, was the possibility of getting grants," said Radovsky, acting museum director after Force left and assistant director to his successor, Edward Creutz.
Force was constantly looking for ways to increase revenues and staff salaries, Radovsky said, noting Force's annual salary when he left the museum was only $25,000.
Among Force's recruits was John Wright, museum historian from 1966 to 1982. "We lived through difficult financial times that were not of his making, but because of him we had extraordinary high morale," Wright said. "He had confidence in his staff; he respected the staff. He was a good leader and a wonderful person to work with. We all became good friends, and that doesn't always happen."
Force expanded museum research and community services, improved storage of the priceless collections, added the first research building since 1925 and brightened what he called the museum's "dead circus" image.
His goal was to create a world-renowned scientific institution and a "people's museum" for residents.
He was responsible for a major turning point in museum's history -- breaking ties with the Bishop Estate trustees. The museum received no estate money but the trustees dominated the museum board for nearly 80 years.
Force sought to cut the link, established in Charles R. Bishop's deed of trust, and incorporate the museum as a charitable trust like most other museums.
He argued that the Bishop Museum should receive state funding because it was the state's official repository and provided extensive community services.
In keeping with his philosophy that museums should be dynamic, he said he wanted to do things no other museum had done, and he did. Some worked; some didn't.
He started a science center and arts and crafts program; undertook restoration of the Falls of Clyde for a maritime museum; created the Heritage Theatre in Waikiki; and brought double-decker London buses here to take visitors from the museum and planetarium in Kalihi, to the Waikiki and waterfront attractions.
He left the museum after tripling the programs, staff and budget, saying "a lot of it has been with bailing wire and chewing gum" because of lack of financial support. Force and his wife, an anthropologist who worked with him on scientific expeditions, were first here in 1954.
He joined the museum staff and they went to the Palau Islands in Micronesia for a 16-months study.
His primary research interests were in the Pacific but he also studied and wrote about North American Indian archaeology.
Force was born in Omaha, Neb., and received a doctorate in anthropology in 1958 from Stanford University. He served in the 89th Infantry, European Theater, during World War II.
After leaving the Bishop Museum, he was appointed director emeritus and holder of The Charles Reed Bishop Distinguished Chair in Pacific Studies, named for the museum's founder.
In 1977, he was appointed director and later became president of the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation of New York City. In 1990, largely through Force's efforts and after a long political fight, the Museum of the American Indian became the National Museum of the American Indian -- part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
He retired in 1990 and the Forces returned to Honolulu. Survivors, besides his wife, include his father, Richard E. Force of Tehachapi, Calif.
A memorial will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Bishop Museum courtyard.
Ah Mow, 76, was born in Honolulu. She is survived by sons Walter, Clifford, Henderson, Talmadge and Oliver; daughters Leialoha Hao, Iwalani Freitas, Moana Vegas and Uilani Beamer; brothers Palmer Spencer, Eldridge Spencer and Victor Spencer; sisters Ella Cheesebro, Thelma Kekumanu and Nancy Ayau; 34 grandchildren; and 49 great-grandchildren.
Service: 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Oahu Cemetery Chapel. Call after 9 a.m. Burial: Diamond Head Memorial Park.
Casual attire.
Louis M. Akuna of Hilo, a retired heavy equipment operator for the state Highways Division, died Saturdayin Hilo Hospital.
Akuna, 84, was born in Kehena, Puna. He is survived by son Vernon; daughters, Mildred Reading,
Minerva Muller and Dorothea Akuna; 16 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and a great-great grandson.
Wake: 7 p.m. Thursdayat Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Call after 5:30 p.m. Service: 10 a.m. Fridayat the church. Call after 8:30 a.m.
Casual attire. No flowers.
C.G. "Chuck" Beer of Honolulu died Thursdayin Honolulu.
Beer, 79, was born in Los Angeles. He is survived by wife Pat; sons Don and Ken Beer, and Gregory Bischoff; daughter Jane Gunderson; brother Robert; and eight grandchildren.
Private services.
Donations suggested to St. Francis Hospice.
Jasmine Ehret of Denver, formerly of Hawaii, died Wednesday .
Ehret, 41, assistant to the president of Surgical Partners, was born in Kailua. She is survived by daughter Marissa; parents Reynolds and Lehua Horswill; brothers and sisters Sandy Aguias, Skip Horswill, Rhonda Thompson, Scott Horswill and Robin Kalama.
Services on the mainland.
Alice O. Fraser of Wahiawa died Thursday in St. Francis Hospice.
Fraser, 90, was born in Toronto, Canada. She is survived by son Clarence L. III; daughter Alice I. Barlow; five grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
Services on the mainland. No flowers.
Donations suggested to St. Francis Hospice.
Jerry T. Izuwa of Honolulu died May 9 in Queen's Hospital.
Izuwa, 79, was born in Honolulu. He is survived by wife Mildred F.; son Leslie T.; daughter Linda Y.; sister Mildred Morimoto; and a grandson.
Private services.
Olga M. Kaahanui of Wailuku died Thursdayin Maui Memorial Hospital.
Kaahanui, 68, was born in Honolulu. She is survived by companion Thomas Kaneda; sons William "Jr," Harold, Bradford "Winston" and Bradley "Curtis;" daughters Olga Kepa, Lila Endo, Donna
Griffin, Josephine Yamashita, Caroline "Kanoe" Kekalia, Eunice Harris, and Carolyn "Lu" and Korina Kaahanui; mother Helen Kekalia; brother Peter Kekalia; hanai brother Lani Naki; sisters Anita Contrades, Diane Gratacos, Josephine Wong and Wanda Valle; 36 grandchildren; and 28 great-grandchildren.
Wake: 6 p.m. Thursdayat Nakamura Mortuary. Service: 9:30 a.m. Fridayat the mortuary. Call after 9 a.m. Casual attire.
Kimiyo Kurashige of Haleiwa died May 12 in Wahiawa Hospital.
Kurashige, 85, was born in Wahiawa. She is survived by sons Henry and George; daughters Jane Onigama and Dorothy Takahashi; brothers Masato, Toshio and Yukio Miyamoto; and five grandchildren.
Private services.
John W. Lawton of Kailua, a retired computer specialist with the federal government, died Wednesdayin Kaiser Hospital.
Lawton, 68, was born in Central City, Ky. He is survived by wife Kathy E.; sons John R. and Marc R.; daughters Susi Harrison and Sondra Lawton; mother Bonnie; brother Ralph M.; sister Jan Bealmear; and six grandchildren.
Service: 4 p.m. tomorrow , at Pali Lanes.
Casual attire. No flowers.
Other services on mainland.
Phuong Phan of Honolulu died Sundayin Queen's Hospital.
Phan, 81, was born in Vietnam. He is survived by wife Luc Do; sons Tuan Dinh, Hung Dinh and Khuyen Dinh; daughters Khanh Thi Phuong and Thao Thi Phuong; and seven grandchildren.
Mass: 5 p.m. tomorrowat St. Theresa's Church. Call from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Nuuanu Memorial Park Mortuary. No flowers.
Mary E.H. Phillips, a retired secretary at Fort Shafter, died Thursday in Honolulu.
Phillips, 78, was born in Wisconsin.
She is survived by daughters Marilyn Van De Grift and Alicia Adams; sons John D. and Donald Holden; stepchildren Barbara Rice, Carolyn Harestad, Paul Phillips and Mary Keith; 20 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Graveside service: 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl. No flowers.
Donations suggested to charity.
Reynold F. Reepof Honolulu, formerly an embalmer and funeral director at Hosoi Garden Mortuary, died Wednesday in Tripler Hospital.
Reep, 74,, was born in Manhattan, Kans. He is survived by Hannah M.Y.; son Gary F.; brother Elmer "Bud"; sisters Betty Martinelli and Mary Calfee; and four grandchildren.
Graveside service: 1 p.m. tomorrow in Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery. No flowers.
John R. Torres, of Kaneohe, a retired employee of the Pearl Harbor Shipyard, died Fridayin St. Francis-West Hospital.
Torres, 83, was born in Honokaa, Hawaii. He is survived by wife, Rose M.; sons, Antone, John M., Vincent, Leroy, Christoper and Robert; daughters Rosemarie T. Kam, Betty Torres and Susan Cunningham; brothers Frederick and Raymond Perreira; sister Maria; 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Service: 10:30 a.m. Saturdayat Borthwick Mortuary. Call after 8:30 a.m. Burial: Hawaiian Memorial Park.
Aloha attire.
Fred R. White of Hawaii, architect and principal partner of Architects Hawaii, died last Tuesday in Honolulu.
White, 61, an artist and craftsman, was born in Durant, Okla.
He is survived by mother Minnie L.; wife Carolyn S.; daughter Alicia A. Lewis and Malia L. White; and son Matthew L.
Private scattering of ashes.