ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2019 -17
REMEMBERING BELOVED JOANNE KIMIKO LEINANI HASHIMOTO HANAWAHINE
WHEREAS, Joanne Kimiko Leinani Hashimoto was born in Honolulu, Hawai‘i on October 22, 1941, to Jerry Takeshi Hashimoto and Elizabeth Sabina Opupele; and
WHEREAS, at the age of four, Joanne moved to Maui and lived with Grandmother Annie Kahakauwila where later she attended St. Anthony School in Wailuku meeting with classmate Lorna Kaiuwailani Akima whose friendship would bring Joanne into the Hawaiian Civic Club movement in Las Vegas; and
WHEREAS, Joanne returned to Kāne‘ohe, reunited with her mother Elizabeth and step-father Frank Gavino, and graduated from Castle High School in 1959; and
WHEREAS, Joanne met Herbert Kewiki Hanawahine, the one love of her life, and the married on June 9, 1960; and
WHEREAS, Herbert and Joanne Hanawahine became proud and loving parents of: Valerie Limiko Leimomilani Jones (11/24/60), Herbert Keli’i Hanawahine (9/29/61), and Lisa-Jade Alohanani (6/15/63), and they were later blessed with nine grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren; and
WHEREAS, raising their young family on the windward side of O‘ahu, Joanne began working as a cashier and moved her career into education work as a Health Aid Nurse at many windward schools such as Waimānalo Elementary and Intermediate School; and
WHEREAS, Joanne left the education field and became a case worker for the Department of Human Services, and this continued her life-long dedication to community service; and
WHEREAS, requested to return back to the education field, Joanne returned to Kailua Intermediate School and was later to retire as secretary to the superintendent of the Adult Education Services Division; and
WHEREAS, along with her personal career, Joanne was a dedicated fan, manager and promoter of her husband Herbert Hanawahine, whose musicianship as a world-renowned steel guitarist led him to often perform nightly entertainment in Waikīkī as well as travel out of Hawai‘i to other countries with such great entertainers as Genoa Keawe, Richard Ho‘opi‘i, Kealoha Kalama, Peter Ahia, Jerry Byrd, Barney Isaacs, Sol Bright and more; and
WHEREAS, Joanne and Herbert Hanawahine were members of the Steel Guitar Association Conferences and upon recommendation by Joanne brought the Conference to Las Vegas in 2009 following a successful 2002 CD release of Herbert Hanawahine “He Kanaka Maoli;” and
WHEREAS, in 1996, the Hanawahines moved to Las Vegas where Joanne immediately began joining every and all Hawaiian organizations including the University of Hawai‘i Alumni Association – Friends of Las Vegas Chapter (Bill and Merriam Olds, Phyllis Matsuda), Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Club, Hālau Hula o Kaleimomi (Kumu Hula Sheldeen Haleamau), Nani Ola Hawaiian Dance Company (Kumu Hula Kanani Cadaoas), Nā Hula Hali‘a Aloha Cultural Preservation as co-founder (Kumu Charles Herring), Southern Nevada Hawaiian Civic Club as a charter and founding member (Charlmers Akima and Lorna Akima), Reflame Ministries as a minister (Kahu Ralph and Lani Kahalehau and Kahu Ann Natto); and
WHEREAS, Joanne was an advocate for Hawaiians traveling to the White House in Washington, D.C. to speak regarding the issue of “Pacific Islander” versus “Native Hawaiian” on surveys taken and job applications which determines the resourcing and money allotments given to the Hawaiian people and, most noteworthy, she was asked to be on Fox 5 Las Vegas Mix Plate with Emme Tomimbang to support a special about “Hawaiians in Transition” in Las Vegas; and
WHEREAS, on September 17, 2019, Joanne Kimiko Leinani Hanawahine passed away leaving behind the loving community of the 9th Island of Las Vegas, Nevada.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 60th Annual Convention in Lahaina, Maui, in the malama of Welehu and the rising of Lāʻau Pau, this 16th day of November 2019, remembering beloved Joanne Kimiko Leinani Hashimoto Hanawahine; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Hanawahine ‘Ohana; the Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Club; Nā Hula Hali‘a Aloha Cultural Preservation, Nā Lei Makalapua (Mainland Council), as well as the Governors of the states of Hawai‘i and Nevada; the Mayor of Las Vegas, all County Mayors in Hawai‘i, the Clark County Board of Commissioners, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate subject matter committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State House subject matter committee on Hawaiian Affairs, and the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of Welehu and the rising of Lāʻau Pau on the 16th day of November 2019, at the 60th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Lahaina, Maui.
Hailama V. K. K. Farden, President