'Auntie Molly' Lyman,
By Lori Tighe
avid volunteer, gave
'true sense of aloha'
Star-BulletinMarion "Molly" Lyman and her son, David, then 5, saw a boy at the beach tumbled by a wave and yanked out by his mother.
Lyman told her son: "When that happens to you, I watch you. When you need me I'm there. But you usually can take care of yourself."
Known as "Auntie Molly," she watched over her family, friends, school students and people in the community she knew through her love for life and volunteerism.
Lyman, 82, died Saturday after fighting lung cancer since August.
"She was one of those people who everyone knew," said her son, David Lyman III. "She gave us a true sense of aloha for whoever we came in contact with, and a sense of community responsibility."
Lyman received the highest honor by the Punahou Alumni Association in 1985, recognizing outstanding community service and service to Punahou. She was a study hall supervisor of seventh and eighth grades and an assistant librarian until she retired.
"She was hugely popular with the students because she was a great listener," said Marion Lyman-Mersereau, her daughter.
"She was a very understanding person. They came to her with their problems and most of the time through her listening, figured the answers out themselves," she said.
Lyman spent her active retirement with her family and her many volunteer activities, including storytelling to kindergartners at Punahou.
She ushered for the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, helped at the Hawaii Maritime Center, and served as a docent at the Lyon Arboretum.
She was on the flower committee at Central Union Church, and on the board of directors for the Lyon Arboretum and the Punahou Alumni Association.
She was born Marion Webster in Honolulu. Her father came to Hawaii a few years before her birth to serve as president of Kamehameha Schools. He later became dean of students at the University of Hawaii. Webster Hall is named after him.
She married David "Bel" Belden Lyman Jr., whose missionary family arrived in Hawaii in 1832 from Connecticut.
Marion Lyman played the part of Sister Baldwin in "The Harp in the Willows" in 1947, a play based on the life of Rev. Lorenzo Lyons.
Lyman-Mersereau wrote a poem for her mother's funeral service to be held at 5 p.m. Thursday at Central Union Church's main sanctuary.
"She was a giver first, of time, money, understanding, love and of life. A lover next of family, friends, people and all their foibles, laughter, plants, flowers and the ocean. A lady always, classy, gracious, graceful and elegant."
Lyman is survived by sons David, Daniel, James "Kimo;" daughter Marion Lyman-Mersereau; 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Molly W. Lyman Foundation at 2213 Hunnewell Place, Honolulu, HI 96822.
Observatory scientist
By Rod Thompson
Reginald Okamura, 62, dies
Star-BulletinHILO -- Reginald Toru Okamura "was the glue that kept" the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's family together, says Jack Lockwood, president of Geohazards Consultants International Inc.
Okamura, a retired assistant scientist-in-charge for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, died Saturday at Hilo Hospital. He was 62.
Okamura was vice president for Geohazards Consultants.
Okamura joined the observatory staff as a chemist in 1958 and remained until his retirement 32 years later.
He rose to the No. 2 post where his long-term presence provided continuity for an agency where the scientist-in-charge rotates every five years.
"He always kept a couch in his office," Lockwood said. Anyone with a problem, about a co-worker, a supervisor, a sick dog, could sit and talk with Okamura.
"Reggie was a guy you could trust. He was the head of the family in a respected way," Lockwood said.
"Reggie was the ultimate fixer. He knew who to contact to smooth things in a very Hawaiian way."
Okamura was an active campaigner for Sen. Daniel Inouye, who asked him to serve on the Saddle Road Task Force.
He used his many contacts in the community to see that the project went smoothly, said Mel Hewitt, co-chairman of the task force with Okamura.
Okamura was born at Hilea Camp in Kau, sugar workers' housing that no longer exists, Lockwood said.
In a 1987 interview with the Star-Bulletin, Okamura said he studied insects in college, intending to use the knowledge in agriculture because he wanted to remain in Hawaii.
Instead, he used his college chemistry studies to get a job at the observatory in time for the most memorable event of his career, the 1,900-foot-high fountaining of Kilauea Iki in 1959.
In his younger days he liked to spear-fish, said Dwight Hamilton, a former chief naturalist at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park who knew Okamura since 1961.
Okamura also developed a passion for golf, belonging to four golf clubs.
Just recently, Hamilton proposed a party for "Reggie and the guys."
"That's the way we always thought of it, as 'Reggie and the guys,'" Hamilton said.
The party was set for last Friday. On Wednesday, Okamura suffered a heart attack and remained in a coma.
Hamilton and friends put on the party anyway, holding a moment of silence during it. Okamura died the next day.
Okamura is survived by wife Jane; son Dean; daughter Lori Okamura; brothers Ronald and Arnold; two sisters Francine Bidal and Gail Okamura; and a granddaughter.
Services over the ashes will be at 5 p.m. Thursday at Hilo Meishoin Mission. Call after 3 p.m.
Alipio P. Agoo,62, of Waialua, who retired from Waialua Sugar, died Wednesday at home. Born in Ilocos Norte, the Philippines, he is survived by wife Christine, son Kenneth A., daughter Charlene M., father Ciriaco, brothers Benjamin and Francisco, sisters Maria Banis and Araceli Manrique, and a grandson. Services: 7 p.m. Thursday at Mililani Mortuary-Waipio, makai chapel. Call after 6 p.m. Casual attire. No flowers.
