RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ronie Low hands a set of keys to her son Bronson, who works as a messenger at the Capitol. Low and her sister, Belle Teixeira, have worked at the Capitol for more than 20 years.
Waianae sisters
share job’s journeyThe pair spend years together
as co-workers at the state Capitol
The three Souza sisters went everywhere together as kids growing up at the back of Waianae Valley.
"It was like, one would go to the store, all the girls would go to the store. And then we did everything together," Ronie (Souza) Low said.
While one of the sisters has since died, Low and Belle (Souza) Teixeira remained close over the years.
So in 1982, when Teixeira's employer, the state House Sergeant-at-Arms Office, had a job opening, she naturally suggested that Low apply.
Low got the job and the two sisters have been working together ever since.
Most of their years working at the state Capitol have been in full-time, year-round jobs doing clerical and secretarial duties. But some of the years they both worked only during the legislative session. Their positions are patronage jobs that are awarded by the Speaker of the House.
Both went from full-time to part-time when Daniel Kihano became Speaker in 1987 and brought in a new Sergeant at Arms. Two years later, they returned to full-time status.
Three years ago, Teixeira, who is 11 years older than Low, retired and only returns to the Capitol during the four-month session.
"When session gets through I'm by myself again coming in. But I talk to myself all the way," Low said.
That is almost like having a conversation with her sister. Teixeira said their husbands sometimes cannot tell the sisters' voices apart on the telephone. Not only do they spend all day at work together, the sisters also share the long drives into and out of town from Waianae every day.
"It turned out good 'cause we got company going back and forth," Teixeira said.
They have never left Waianae and lived awhile on their mother's Hawaiian homestead property there.
"My mother had three homes on this property. I lived in one and she (Low) lived in the other one," Teixeira said.
Both later moved with their families to other homes in Waianae. Their homes are three minutes apart, and their families do just about everything together.
"Her house is like my house. My house is like her house. Her kids and my kids, they are very close," Low said. "I guess that's because we're always together so they're always together."
