Betty Jacob lived to
By Steven Petranik
promote peace
Star-BulletinVictory over Nazi control left much of Europe in ruins. Peace in the 1940s was almost as cruel as war: chaos, hunger and disease bred despair and anger.
Most Americans, tired of war, were preoccupied with rebuilding their own lives at home. But Betty Muther Jacob knew that food and medicine were the best ways to keep the peace, and she helped build the United Nations' relief agencies into saviors for millions of people.
Jacob, 88, a charismatic and tenacious worker for peace and justice worldwide for almost seven decades, died Wednesday. She had fought brain cancer and a series of strokes for two years.
She kept working into her 70s and 80s, helping found the University of Hawaii's Matsunaga Institute for Peace and nurturing democracy amid the ruins of the Soviet empire.
"She was a uniquely remarkable person," says Ralph Summy, the peace institute's current director. "She was able to combine competence in achieving her objectives, with compassion. She had tremendous compassion for people."
In the 1940s, Jacob was an executive at the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, and then UNICEF, the children's fund.
Ratko Pleic, then a Yugoslav member of the UNICEF executive board, credits her with saving the fledgling agency by persuading a reluctant U.S. government to give hundreds of millions of dollars.
Archives indicate Jacob was the first person to suggest Dag Hammarskjold, then a relatively obscure Swedish diplomat, for the post of U.N. secretary-general, a job he held from 1953 to 1961.
Jacob first proposed UNICEF's popular Halloween tradition of children collecting change. She said she came up with the idea after her own children squabbled over Halloween treats.
Jacob lived and worked in Hawaii since 1970. She helped launch programs of conflict resolution in local schools, then raised $250,000 in Washington for a Hawaii-based program that teaches students in Russia and America about democracy.
During the Cold War, her friendship with leaders and academics in capitalist, communist and nonaligned nations helped her organize groundbreaking research projects with her husband, the late Philip Jacob, a University of Hawaii political science professor. She was especially proud that this work helped foster global dialogue and understanding.
While living in the all-white Philadelphia suburb of Swarthmore during the 1950s, she helped build interracial housing projects despite death threats and a cross burned on her front lawn.
Jacob was a Quaker and lived by their virtues of sharing, simplicity and pacifism. Daughter Sally Jacob remembers helping her mother pick beach plums each summer so she could make jelly for friends and acquaintances at Christmas.
"Even when we had hardly any money, she had a personal handmade gift for friends," Sally Jacob says.
"Also, she always had room at our table for people, often inviting those who were from other countries who did not have family to eat dinner with us."
Jacob, born in 1910 in a Chicago suburb, believed that repeated tragedies early in life fostered her lifelong desire to end wars and suffering. Her mother died when she was 4, her stepmother died six years later, and uncles were badly injured while fighting on opposite sides during World War I.
She is survived by daughter Sally, sons Kirk and Stephan, and five grandchildren. A service will be held Thursday at 4 p.m. on the UH-Manoa campus, Student Services Center, Room 412. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Matsunaga Institute for Peace. For more information about the service, call 956-3774.
Hawaii labor negotiator
By Star-Bulletin staff
Al Fraga, 71, diesAl Fraga, who for years represented management in labor talks, died Monday. He was 71.
Fraga retired as president of the Hawaii Employers Council in 1995 after 21 years of service, most of them as the group's head. He was the first Hawaii-born president of the council when he was chosen for the position in 1978.
He once said that he took his best traits from labor leaders such as Jack Hall, the late ILWU regional director, and Harry Bridges, former ILWU international vice president -- men he knew well.
The former St. Louis School basketball player grew up in Pauoa Valley and attended the University of Hawaii.
Over the years, he stood up for management in some of the state's biggest collective bargaining agreements.
His first job was in the Iwilei Dole cannery. He later became a machinist, a tool and die maker, an ILWU union steward, union shop steward, secretary and treasurer, and edited a union's newsletter.
He was involved in the ILWU's athletic association until he joined management at Dole in the 1950s.
He is survived by his wife, Geraldine; one son, Albert Jr.; four daughters, Terry Silva, Debroah Bee, Alberta Fraga-Sayurin and Darcie; 11 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be 11:45 a.m. Thursday at Diamond Head Mortuary. Visitation will be allowed from 10 to 11:45 a.m. Burial will be private. The family requests no flowers.
Schuler, senior citizens
Star-Bulletin staff
advocate, rememberedShe was a familiar face at the state Legislature, championing public health for the elderly.
Loretta T. Schuler earned the nickname "Ms. Health" while lobbying lawmakers for the Kokua Council on Senior Citizens.
Schuler, 84, formerly of Kaneohe, died Aug. 10 in Nampa, Idaho.
She moved in 1948 from Idaho to Hawaii as a visiting professor in school health and health education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
She also was director of nursing for the Hawaii chapter of the American Red Cross and taught psychiatric nursing at the Territorial Hospital.
In 1961, she went to American Samoa as educational director for the school of nursing.
Schuler returned to work for the state Department of Health in 1964, monitoring care homes.
She retired in 1982 but become legislative chairwoman for the senior citizens council.
Born in New Plymouth, Idaho, she is survived by sisters Mary Schweizer, Dorothy Vauk, Jo Kalousek, Martha Flitton, Helen Chadez, Anne Anderle, Frances Pierson and M. Chanelle Schuler, and brother Bud Schuler.
Services on the mainland.
Dorothy R. Bright, 81, a former telephone operator for Young Laundry & Dry cleaners, died Aug. 5. Born in Honolulu, she is survived by daughter Mervina Sturgeon, sisters Llwellyn De Mattos and Eloise Thompson, five grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. Services on the mainland. Donations suggested to the Mountain View Lutheran Church, 3505 122nd Ave. E. in Edgewood, Wash.
Ernest O. "Tom" Brown, 75, of Aiea, who retired from the U.S. Department of Defense, Naval Finance, died Tuesday. Born in Wilmington, N.C., he is survived by wife Shirley; sons James, Steven and Richard; brothers Forrest Brown and Fred Meyers; sisters Mildred Lytle and Hilda Wright; eight grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. Graveside services: 8:30 a.m. Monday at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl. Casual attire.
Annie M. De Costa, 80, of Kurtistown, Hawaii, a retired laundry worker for Hilo Quality Cleaners and Young Laundry & Dry Cleaning, died last Friday in Hilo Hospital. Born in Honolulu, she is survived by sons Herbert and Gilbert De Costa and Herman, Lawrence, Danny and Frederick Costa; daughters Lillian Perreira, May Ecalon, Violet Nakea and Thelma Rivera; brother George Kahao; grandchildren; great-grandchildren; and great-great-grandchildren. Services: 11 a.m. tomorrow at Dodo Mortuary. Call after 9 a.m. Burial: Mauna Kea Memorial Park. Casual attire.
Sumiko "Gladys" Kimura, 87, of Honolulu, died Saturday in Kuakini Hospital. Born in Honolulu, she is survived by daughters Carol Yoshioka, Joanne Kimura and Patsy Ideue; brothers Clark, Terry and Stanley Shinkawa; sister Jane "Kim" Tanaka; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Memorial services: 6 p.m. Tuesday at Nuuanu Mortuary. Casual attire. No flowers.
Hoon Yee Kong, 81, of Wahiawa, a retired teacher from Leilehua High School, died Monday at home. Born in Waikane, she is survived by husband Paul Y.C.; son Jeffrey W.S.; daughters Natalie K. Imata, Beverly C.H. Kim and Candace C.Y. Kong; brothers Lum Chow, Gut Chew and Wing Mung Young; and eight grandchildren. Graveside services: 10:45 a.m. Monday at Mililani Memorial Park. Casual attire.
Katsuro Kubota, 78, of Waipahu was the retired owner of a steel construction and contracting company. Incorrect information for an obituary published Wednesday provided by the mortuary.
Creamtina Liufau, 65, of Kaneohe, died last Friday in Kaaawa. Born in American Samoa, she is survived by husband Aunuua; sons Lawrence, McMoore, Etisone, Salapu and Poe; daughters Lepeka Taula, Hazel Tampler, Tiana Lakatani, Punipuao Taetuna and Susana Liufau; hanai children Willie, Enesi, Sio, Gautuli, Savali, Hanau and Leata; 27 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Services: 10 a.m. to noon Monday at Valley of the Temples Mortuary. Call after 8 a.m. Burial: Valley of the Temples.
Mary Lee McLaren, 80, of Aiea, a retired broker with McLaren Realty, died Monday in Tripler Hospital. Born in St. Louis, she is survived by husband Ennis, sons Daniel Shapiro and Michael McLaren, and 11 grandchildren. Services: 11 a.m. Tuesday at Hosoi Garden Mortuary. Call after 10 a.m. Burial: Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery.
Alice O. Okada, 89, of Honolulu, died Tuesday in Queen's Hospital. Born in Waimanalo, she is survived by son Wallace, daughter Helen Lee, and three grandchildren. Services: 6 p.m. Wednesday at Hosoi Garden Mortuary. Call after 5 p.m. Burial: 10 a.m. Thursday at Hawaiian Memorial Park. Casual attire. No flowers.
Lionel K.K.K. Ortiz, 31, a former mason, will be remembered in private services. He died Aug. 3. Born in Honolulu, he is survived by wife Claudette, daughters Amy K. and Ashley L. Molina, sons Lionel Kalai Ka-Liona Kane Jr. and Lawrence Keoni Alaka'i O Kaulike, sisters Odetta Simmons and Samantha Holliday, brother Michael, and grandmother Rose.
Abrionica Pasol, 64, of Kauai, died Aug. 5 in Queen's Hospital. Born in Olaa, Hawaii, she is survived by husband Frederick, daughters Glenda Horner and Freda McCurley, brother Marium Villaren, and a granddaughter. Services: 11 a.m. tomorrow at Waimea Hawaiian United Church of Christ Church. Call from 9 a.m. to noon. Burial: Kauai Veterans Cemetery. Casual attire.
Salvatore L. Putzulu, 72, of Wahiawa, a retired machinist supervisor for Shop No. 31 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, died Saturday in Kaiser Hospital. He was also a retired grounds maintenance worker for the state Harbors Division and a veteran of the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Born in Pierce, W.Va., he is survived by wife Clara E.; sons Anthony J., Paul D. and Salvatore L. Jr.; daughters Ann Marie Campbell and Gerilynn Waites; sister Mary T.; seven grandchildren; four stepgrandchildren; and four stepgreat-grandchildren. Wake services: 7 p.m. Sunday at Mililani Mortuary-Waipio, makai chapel. Call from 6 to 9 p.m. Mass: 11 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Sorrows Church. Call after 10 a.m. Burial: Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery. Casual attire.
Harold S.K. Telles, 71, of Washington, a warehouseman with the paper mill industry, died Aug. 9 in St. John Hospital. Born in Koloa, Kauai, he is survived by sisters Marjorie Wong, Caroline Lim and Lorraine White; and brothers James Jr., Clemente and Allan. Services: 11 a.m. tomorrow at Kauai Veterans Cemetery. Inurnment to follow. Casual attire.
Anna K.E. Wahinehookae, 70, of Honolulu, a retired housing management specialist for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, died Aug. 11 in Kaiser Hospital. Born in Honolulu, she is survived by husband Charles; children Charles Jr., Anna "Nana," Elsa and Nancy Wahinehookae and Jo-Ann Wahinehookae Isaacs; sister Emily E. Fernandes; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Wake services: 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Kalihi Ward, 1723 Beckley St. Call from 6 to 9 p.m. Services: 11 a.m. Tuesday at the church. Call after 9 a.m. Burial: Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery. Aloha attire.
Pun Yui Wong, 59, of Honolulu was born in Hong Kong. Incorrect information for an obituary published yesterday provided by the family.
Soichi Yamamoto, 89, of Waimea, Kauai, a sales manager for Kauai Motors, died Tuesday in Kauai Veterans Hospital. Born in Waimea, Kauai, he is survived by wife Kikue, son Alvin, daughter Gloria Matsuba, brothers Raymond and Yoshito, sisters Katsue Ichinose and Katherine Nishida, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Services: 4:30 p.m. Monday at Waimea United Church of Christ. Call from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. Inurnment: church cemetery. Casual or aloha attire.
You can also search the Hawaii State Library System's
Hawaii Newspaper Index online for older obituaries at:
http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/education/hcc/library/hiindex.html
The index, which goes back several decades,
is available via Telnet software.
