Gov. Linda Lingle has ordered the state flag at state and county buildings throughout Hawai‘i to fly at half-staff on Sunday from sunrise to sunset, in honor of former State Sen. Henry T. “Hank” Takitani who died earlier this month.

The governor’s proclamation also encourages residents to display the state flag at half-staff at their homes and businesses on Sunday. Memorial services for Takitani will be held on Maui on Sunday.
Prior to entering politics, Takitani joined the Army and was assigned to Company K of the highly decorated 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry. He later earned an economics degree from Illinois College before returning to Maui to join the family business. With the encouragement of his friends from the Army, Takitani ran for office, drawing much support through a successful grass-roots campaign.

Elected to the state House of Representatives in 1968, Takitani made a successful run for the Senate, where he served for 10 years. He valued education and served as chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, where he worked to expand the University of Hawai‘i as a way to give local students a viable option for college without leaving home. In addition to improving the university academically, he also advocated the building of more dormitories on the Manoa campus and improving Maui Technical College, which later joined the University of Hawai‘i system as Maui Community College.

Takitani is survived by his wife Shirley; daughters Sheila Kawahara, Cheryl Takitani-Smith and Roxanne Teshima; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.