Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama arrived in Honolulu last night for a brief, hastily arranged visit with his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, whose health is deteriorating.

Obama touched down at Honolulu International Airport in his private campaign plane about 7:15 p.m. and went straight to his grandmother's Makiki apartment, where they met privately for about an hour.

His motorcade then took him to the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, where he is staying. Obama is scheduled to leave Honolulu about 5 p.m. today and resume his campaign tomorrow in the battleground state of Nevada.

The Hawai'i-born Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, did not make a statement to reporters about the visit or about his plans in Honolulu.

The detour during the critical last two weeks of the campaign was so Obama could see his beloved grandmother "Toot," who has been in poor health after she fell and broke her hip earlier this month.

Dunham, who turns 86 on Sunday, suffers from osteoporosis that has limited her mobility and largely confined her to her 10th-floor, two-bedroom apartment where she helped raise Obama.

About 50 people gathered in front of the apartment building and across South Beretania Street in front of Central Union Church hoping to catch a glimpse of the Democratic presidential candidate.

Chaminade graduate students John Walje IV and Kristin Geiling, both 24, didn't see Obama but the candidate's stopover left an impression nonetheless.

"Coming here put me over on his side," said Walje, a Missouri native who lives in Mililani. "It's all about character and he doesn't want to make the same mistake twice. I didn't get a chance to see my dad before he passed away so it's something I can relate to."

Said Geiling, "I'm from Hawai'i and family is family here, so I respect it when a presidential candidate shows good character by pausing to come here (for a family matter). I typically vote Republican but this year that might change."

DEDICATION ADMIRED

In an interview this week with CBS News, Obama said he was intent on not making the same mistake he made before his mother died.

Obama arrived back home in Hawai'i too late to see Stanley Ann Dunham before she died of ovarian cancer in 1995 at age 53.

In an interview scheduled to air this morning on ABC's "Good Morning America," Obama said of his grandmother: "She has been inundated with phone calls and e-mails and flowers from strangers who have read about her in my first book.

"And so maybe she is getting a sense of, of long-deserved recognition at — towards the end of her life."

Outside the apartment last night, certified public accountant Brandon Yne, 27, who lives near the Punahou Circle Apartments and will likely vote for Obama, said, "I believe in family values and think it's important in a candidate. I think what (Obama) did was admirable."

Dyan Kleckner, 24, who is in public relations, said she voted absentee for Obama.

"I think this shows he has a human side to him," Kleckner said. "It's a critical time in the campaign and for him to set aside time for family and things that matter in life is something of value in a candidate."

Obama attended Punahou School on a partial scholarship and through tuition paid by Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, according to retired Advertiser reporter Jerry Burris, who, along with journalist Stu Glauberman, wrote the recent book, "The Dream Begins: How Hawaii Shaped Barack Obama."

Myrtle Choan told The Advertiser that the stern lessons she learned from Dunham 48 years ago at Bank of Hawaii helped give Choan success in her own career.

"I was taught by Madelyn Dunham and I am what I am today because of her," said Choan, who is now a Realtor for Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties. "She was a tough woman, but I am thankful for what she taught me."

Choan sent her good wishes for Dunham's health while remembering her years in the fledgling escrow department that flourished under Dunham.

Choan was a 23-year-old named Myrtle Yuen when she began at Bank of Hawaii in 1960, then Hawai'i's largest bank in terms of assets.

"She was well known because she was a tough woman," Choan said. "Bank of Hawaii was known for escrow because she was the one. She was no-nonsense."

NO-NONSENSE LEADER

Choan remembers seeing Obama's mother in the bank, as well as Obama's grandfather. But not Barack Obama, who would have been a toddler at the time.

"When Ann was young, Stanley was always waiting to take Mrs. Dunham home," Choan said. "She didn't drive."

Toward the end of the workday, Madelyn Dunham often unapologetically loaded Choan up with work.

"I was a single girl and she would give me 10, 12 folders (of escrow work) to take home to do as homework," Choan said. "Mrs. Dunham said, 'Myrtle, you can do it.' I was a nice girl from Sacred Hearts Academy and wouldn't answer back. No more playing around with Mrs. Dunham. She would scold you."

Choan sometimes caddied for Bankoh's president during her four years at the bank. But Choan credits her time with Dunham for the subsequent success she has enjoyed.

"Mrs. Dunham started the escrow company," Choan said. "She was a smart woman. This is what I am today from what I learned from her."

In December 1970, Bankoh named Dunham one of its first two female vice presidents.

In August, during a family vacation on O'ahu, Obama told reporters that Dunham was struggling with osteoporosis. He and his family made several stops at Dunham's apartment during the vacation.

In his speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination later in August, Obama praised his grandmother, saying: "She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me."

Willes Lee, the state GOP chairman, said Republicans are sympathetic to the circumstances surrounding Obama's visit.

"It's a very unfortunate situation," he said.

Charles Freedman, political director of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i, said most people can relate to what Obama must be going through.

"Many of us have been in a similar situation with a parent or grandparent," he said. "Our hearts are with him and his family and we wish them all well."