COURTESY PHOTO The first "Little Brother" of Big Brothers of Hawaii, Dennis Brown, left, looked up to his "Big Brother," Henry Sumida.

Big Brothers, Sisters
has come full circle

The first isle "Little Brother"
is now the agency's president

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By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.com

In 1963, 9-year-old Dennis Brown was a rebellious kid who hated school. He never got to see his father since his parents' divorce, and lived in a low-income housing project with his mother.

Then, the first "Little Brother" of Big Brothers of Hawaii met Henry Sumida, who encouraged Brown to go to college. Brown listened.

"He always made me feel there was no reason why I couldn't achieve what I wanted," Brown said.

Today, Brown has come full circle, becoming president and chief executive officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu in 1998.

Brown and Sumida, the first "Big Brother," will be part of the celebration of Big Brothers Big Sisters' 40th anniversary today at Sea Life Park.

Known only as Big Brothers of Hawaii when it opened, the agency merged with Big Sisters in 1979.

"If anyone asks how successful is the program, I say: 'Look at Dennis. He entered the program as a little boy, and now he's running the show,'" said Sumida, who still works as a civil engineer at 71.

Brown went to the University of Hawaii and earned bachelor's and master's degrees, specializing in social services administration and planning.

Sumida decided to join Big Brothers when he saw a news story about the agency. He said he wanted to do something for the community that did not require following a structured schedule.

Sumida and Brown were matched because of similar personality traits. They were both "on the quiet side" and preferred doing things on their own instead of joining group activities, Brown said.

When the two first met, "I was rebellious and hard to get to know," Brown said. "I wasn't too keen about having a Big Brother and, like most kids who lose their fathers, was resentful of anyone trying to take his place."

It took a couple of months before he started warming up to Sumida and feeling comfortable with him.

Sumida "opened up new avenues" for Brown, teaching him tennis, "which no housing project kid did back then," and bowling, which also was out of his realm because it cost money, Brown said.

Sumida helped him build model airplanes and took him to movies and places he would never be able to go, like Sea Life Park, Brown added.

And they would always end their four hours a week together having ice cream or dessert, usually at the old Coco's restaurant on Kapiolani Boulevard or the Village Inn Restaurant, now Tony Roma's in Kahala.

"That's where we'd have our conversations," Brown said. "He was such a good listener."

Over their 2 1/2 years together, Sumida would never lecture him. He would ask about how he was doing in school, a place Brown said he hated, and simply listen and offer encouragement.

Sumida took him on a tour of UH and encouraged him to think about going to college.

"It really stuck with me," Brown said.

"I really looked up to him," he added.