CYRIL KANEMITSU / RETIRED JUDGE

Big Isle jurist known
for fairness, helping others

Cyril Kanemitsu, a retired judge willing to make unconventional decisions and a political campaigner who warned against politics in his law firm, died Thursday at his home in Hilo. He was 80.

While an attorney in private practice in the 1970s, Kanemitsu campaigned for former Democratic Lt. Gov. Tom Gill in his unsuccessful bids for governor.

Yet as a lawyer, he warned his colleagues, "We do not allow politics to govern our cases," said his former partner, Valta Cook.

He was both practical and idealistic, Cook said.

Appointed as a district judge in Kona in 1980, he also handled cases that now would go to Family Court.

The norm in those days was to grant custody of children to their mother in case of a a divorce, but Kanemitsu also gave custody to the father when the welfare of a child required it, said his wife, Marge.

People have come to her and told how fair her husband had been, she said. Then they reveal that they feel that way even though Kanemitsu ruled against them.

Kanemitsu served as a district judge in Kona between 1980 and 1986 and then in Hilo from 1986 to 1992.

The Judiciary was fortunate to have him serving on the lower court, said former Circuit Judge Paul de Silva. Although Circuit Court is considered to be at a higher level, he wasn't interested in that, de Silva said.

Kanemitsu helped many young lawyers, including de Silva when he returned home to Hilo after law school.

Andy Levin, who went on to become a state senator and is now an aide to Mayor Harry Kim, said, "He bent over backwards to make it possible for me to succeed."

Kanemitsu served in the Army as a Japanese language specialist during World War II, then became an agricultural extension agent after the war. He turned to studying law, then represented small, independent sugar cane growers, at times lobbying for them in Washington, his wife said.

Besides his wife, Marge, Kanemitsu is survived by sons Ben, Robert, David, and Ross Kanemitsu and Britt Murakami; daughter Anne Fujioka; brother Daniel; caregiver Estela Ellazar; and eight grandchildren.

Services are at 4 p.m. Saturday at Dodo Mortuary. Friends may call from 2:30 p.m. Graveside urn committal will be at 9 a.m. Monday at Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. 2.