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Meller taught politics
throughout PacificOBITUARIES
By Harold Morse
Star-BulletinNorman Meller, University of Hawaii emeritus professor of political science who specialized in islands of the Pacific under the American flag and related topics, died Wednesday in Straub Hospital. He was 86.
The San Francisco native earned a law degree at Hastings Law School. His education also included a bachelor's degree from the University of California-Berkeley, and a master's and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
His University of Hawaii affiliation ran from 1947 to 1977. He was director of the Legislative Reference Bureau in 1947-1955 and held the title of UH political science professor from 1955 to 1977, serving a few years as department chairman.
Also, he was briefly acting deputy chancellor of the East-West Center. His earlier career included service as a deputy from 1938 to 1946 with the California Department of Legislative Counsel, with time out for World War II Navy service as a Japanese language officer from 1943 to 1945.
His strong attachment to the Pacific led to visiting professorships in Australia, Canada, Japan and the U.S. mainland. He had numerous consultantships, including one with the U.S. Senate Committee to American Samoa in 1960 and another with the Micronesian Constitutional Convention in 1975.
He published eight books and scholarly monographs, 10 chapters in edited books and 25 articles in learned journals. Titles included "Land and Politics in Hawaii," "Fiji Goes to the Polls," "Papers on the Papua-New Guinea House of Assembly," "The Congress of Micronesia," "Constitution Making in Hawaii," and "Institutionalized Adaptability: Legislative Reference in Japan and the United States."
Adam A. "Bud" Smyser, longtime acquaintance and Star-Bulletin contributing editor, recalled he first met Meller as Legislative Reference Bureau director here after World War II.
"He ran a good ship," Smyser said. "He was an outstanding, totally intellectually honest professor of political science at the University of Hawaii. He helped train I'm sure many of today's political leaders of Hawaii."
Meller is survived by wife Terza; son Douglas; sisters Ruth Hurshman and Marcia Childress; and two grandchildren.
Private services were held. Donations may be made to the Norman Meller Scholarship Award, University of Hawaii Foundation, c/o Department of Political Science, 2424 Maile Way, Room 640, Honolulu 96822.
Obituaries
Kesa Awa, 85, of Waimea, Kauai, died July 9 in Wilcox Hospital. She was born in Waimea, Kauai. She is survived by son James; daughter Jean Young; sister Sue Fung, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Private services. Sarah M.K. Bridges, 22, of Hauula is survived by grandfather Tamati Waihi. Incorrect information for an obituary published yesterday was provided by the mortuary.
Nell M.H.K. "Mamo" Delizo, 63, of Ewa Beach died Monday at home. She was born in Honolulu. She is survived by sons Don and Del; daughters Debra Delizo, Valerie Lopes, Denise Smith and Veronica Travis; brothers Emil Solomon Olmstead and Joseph, Paul, James, Lawrence, Robert, Rueben, Emil, Bruce and Roy Hanohano; sisters Lucy "Wai" Paaaina, Barbara Delizo, Ruby Chai and Shirley Gohier, 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Services: 7 p.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. Call from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Burial: 2 p.m. next Friday at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl. Casual attire. No flowers.
Jacinta R. Dumayag, 80, of Ewa Beach died July 7 in St. Francis-West Hospice. She was born in the Philippines. She is survived by son Mario; daughters Felicidad Gabato, Mila Cadiente, Greta Arsisto and Cora Colwell; brother Alejandro Rivera; sister Maria Guillermo, and five 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 Immaculate Conception Church. Call after 9 a.m. Burial: Mililani Memorial Park. Casual attire.
Marianne Gilmore, 69, of Hilo, a retired credit manager, died Sunday at home. She was born in Oklahoma. She is survived by sons Jeff, Jim, Steve and Craig Feldmeyer; brother Herbert "Wiley," and four grandchildren. Private services.
Carol H. Graham, 60, of Honolulu, a retired media buyer, died Wednesday in Honolulu. She is survived by husband Robert B.; sons John, Thomas and Roderick; brothers Ronald and Gerry Honda; mother Gertrude Honda, and nine grandchildren. Memorial services: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kilohana Methodist Church. Aloha attire.
Masao Hagino, 76, of Honolulu, a retired funeral director for the Hawaii Funeral Home and Nuuanu, Mililani and Garden Island mortuaries, died Wednesday in Queen's Hospital. He was born in Hilo. He is survived by sons David, Gerald, Dr. Timothy and Keith; daughter Bernice; brothers Kenneth, Richard, Isamu and George; sisters Janet Hamanaka and Myrtle Wakida, and seven grandchildren. Services: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Church of the Crossroads. Call after 4:30 p.m.
Ross Y. Hagino, 76, of Honolulu, a retired pediatrician, died Wednesday at home. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. He is survived by wife Itsuko; sons Drs. Owen R. and Ryan T.; daughter Meri M. Okano; brothers Sam and Minoru, and sister Ruth Yamada. No services.
Hisako Isekawa, 91, of Honolulu died Saturday in Oahu Care Facility. She was born in Hawaii. She is survived by sons Kenneth T. and Theodore T.; daughter Mary S. Nakamura, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Private services.
Raymond M. "Ma" Kitagawa, 82, of Honolulu, a retired computer specialist at Fort Shafter, died July 12 in Kuakini Geriatric Care Inc. He was born in Honolulu. He is survived by wife Betty M.; son Kevin R.; daughter Noreen M. Simonelli; brothers Hiroshi, Tamotsu and Ken N., and six grandchildren. Private services.
Sopoaga F. Mao, 64, of Honolulu, who retired from the U.S. Army, died July 7 in Straub Hospital. He also retired from the Preservation and Insulation Shop at Pearl Harbor. He was born in Manu'a, American Samoa. He is survived by wife Mele; son Samuel; daughters Verna Teofilo, Jane Siagatonu and Edwina and Stephanie Mao; mother Laulauga; brother Faimalo; sister Tina Wilkerson, and eight grandchildren. Services: 10 a.m. Tuesday at Mililani Downtown Mortuary. Call after 9 a.m. Burial: Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery.
Henry E. Matsuda, 72, of Captain Cook, Hawaii, a retired macadamia nut and coffee farmer, died Tuesday in Straub Hospital. He was born in Keei, Hawaii. He is survived by brothers James Y. and Satoru. Memorial services: 4 p.m. Tuesday at Kona Hongwanji Mission. Call after 3 p.m. Casual attire. No flowers.
Lucy M.G. Medrano, 82, of Kaneohe is survived by daughter Lucy. Incorrect information for an obituary published yesterday provided by the mortuary.
Naoko S. Mizomi, 76, of Lanai City, who worked at Lanai School cafeteria, died Tuesday in Queen's Hospital. She was born in Hawaii. She is survived by husband Tadashi "Dyke"; daughters Janet Miyashiro and Norene Chipman; brother George Sakaue; sisters Molly Lee and Marion Nakamura, and four grandchildren. Memorial services: 6 p.m. Sunday at Mililani Downtown Mortuary. Call after 5 p.m. Casual attire. No flowers.
Mildred M. Okita, 90, of Pearl City, a retired advertising media buyer for Consolidated Amusement, died Sunday in Maluhia Hospital. She was born in Honolulu. She is survived by daughter Carol-Ann Y. Oki; sister Gladys Y. Nakashima, and two grandchildren. Private services.
Tsukasa "Thomas" Sasaki, 73, of Kaneohe and formerly of Paia, Maui, a retired chemical weeder for HC&S, died Wednesday. He was born in Paia, Maui. He is survived by brother Richard and sister Shirley Moore. Inurnment services: 10 a.m. tomorrow at Valley of the Temples.
Harold N. "Hal" Schultz, 82, of Honolulu, who retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, died July 13 at home. He also retired from the federal government. He was born in Odessa, Wash. He is survived by wife Aileen; son Lee H.; daughter Linda A., and seven grandchildren. Services: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Borthwick Mortuary. Call from 5 to 9 p.m. Mass: 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa Catholic Church. Call after 10 a.m. Burial: Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery. Casual attire. No flowers.
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.
