[AT YOUR SERVICE]
Little shop keeps NEWLY PROMOTED Army Brig. Gen. Glen Sakagawa has a lot in common with several four-star generals, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric "Ric" Shinseki and former Pacific Forces Commander Joseph Prueher.
’em in stitches
Rose Lee has spent four decades
tailoring her talents to the
needs of servicemenBy Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-BulletinTheir color portraits, along with those of several dozen general officers, adorn the wall of an unassuming little shop in the Kalihi Shopping Center.
For nearly four decades, Rose Lee has served as a tailor not only to the stars, but also to the grunts in the field who are just beginning their military careers.
One of the walls of her Kalihi store is filled with portraits of her appreciative customers, ranging from U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye to the newest general in the Hawaii Army National Guard, Sakagawa, commander of the 29th Infantry Brigade.
"I've seen them all," said Lee, who will celebrate her 70th birthday next year and hints that it may be time to put the cover on her sewing machine. "I've helped some of them when they were in high school junior ROTC, through their years at the University of Hawaii and ROTC, and when they became generals."
Take Shinseki, now the highest-ranking Asian American in the military, with four stars on his shoulders.
"I remember Gen. Shinseki when he was a captain and he was here recuperating from his wounds from the Vietnam War. He used to come to my shop at Fort Shafter."
After Shinseki left, Lee said she followed his career.
Then, several years ago, when he returned home to honor members of the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team at a banquet, Lee was in attendance.
"I wondered if it was appropriate since he was sitting with a four-star admiral, the governor and other impressive generals," Lee said. "My girlfriend urged me to talk to him, and right away he recognized me. It was really thrilling."
Lee took over the alteration concession at Fort Shafter in 1966 from her mother, Clara Park. "We're originally from Lanai and moved to Wahiawa, just following the pineapple business, but my mother started working as a seamstress at Schofield and Fort Shafter until she finally decided to try it on her own."
Lee, a 1950 Leilehua High School grad, said her mother ran the Fort Shafter concession for about 20 years, but she never had an interest in following in her mother's footsteps until 35 years ago when she started taking her mother to work.
"Until then I was a stay-at-home Army wife at Schofield," Lee said. "I started helping her out until finally I just took it over. My mother ran the concession until she was 62, and even after she retired she would come in and work. She never wanted to stay at home. She must have worked with me unofficially until she was in her 70s."
In 1986, Lee lost the concession at Fort Shafter and moved a few blocks to the Kalihi Shopping Center. What kept her going was a loyal line of customers, especially those in the Hawaii Army National Guard and the Army Reserve.
"There were two sergeants major, I think one was (Bill) Duncan in the Army Guard and (Shige) Uehara in the Army Reserve who helped. I remember Sgt. Maj. Duncan telling me if I opened a new place, he would tell everyone in the National Guard, and boy, did he. I got business not only from here, but from people on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island."
Now she employs four seamstresses and works six days a week. She even has an embroiderer.Her business has grown beyond sewing on patches and altering uniforms.
"I think my business is now split 50-50 between the military and civilians. I do a lot of prom dresses and wedding alterations."
E.H. "Chip" Gunther, a retired Navy lieutenant commander, said that when he retired from the service in 1976, he went to work in sales for Foremost Dairies and wanted some alterations done.
"Someone remembered Rose Lee," Gunther said, "and I have been coming here ever since. Rose always has done a good job."
"She does quality work," said Sakagawa, who in civilian life is senior manager for the U.S. Postal Service. "It's always perfect. I never had to bring anything back."
It's not only men who frequent her shop.
Two female generals -- Tripler's Maj. Gen. Nancy Adams and retired Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy -- have been her customers.
Lee and her husband, retired Army Sgt. Maj. Henry Lee, have four children, one of whom works as a fashion designer in New York. As for Lee, her enjoyment seems to come when the bell on the front jingles and a customer walks in to drop off clothes and to chat.
For all Lee knows, that customer someday may be the country's commander in chief.
Gregg K. Kakesako can be reached by phone at 294-4075
or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.