Edmund Chong, former owner and operator of the iconic Hygienic Store in Kahaluu, was remembered last week as an enthusiastic family man and a familiar, friendly face around Kaneohe.
He died of a stroke Jan. 15 in Kailua at age 86.
Chong and wife Jackie, 79, helped his parents run the Hygienic Store, remembered by many for its large nickel ice cream cone, from 1950 until his father’s death in 1976. Chong took over and continued running the store until leasing it out in 1980.
"For a time it was the only store between Kahuku and Kaneohe," recalled Jackie Chong. "It was practically a community center. But as time went on and Kaneohe started building up and Temple Valley was developed, we saw the writing on the wall.
"We didn’t really miss the store, but we really missed the people."
Chong was known by many for his quiet amiability. "He was a nice guy, and he was always there at the store," Jackie Chong said. "Until he died, he could walk around Kaneohe and people would say, ‘Hi, how are you?’ Just chitchat for a while. He was someone everyone knew."
Born in Honolulu, Edmund Francis Ting Choy Chong attended what was then Saint Louis College until World War II, when the school was used as a military hospital. He attended McKinley High School until his parents sent him to Sonoma High School in California, where as a quarterback he and several other former Saint Louis students helped the school win its first football championship.
After graduation he became a merchant seaman, helping deliver troops and military equipment in the Pacific theater during the war. He returned to Hawaii after the war and held various jobs until his father bought the Hygienic Store from Hygienic Dairy in 1950.
Jackie Chong said her husband loved horseback riding, taking care of children and tending to his garden, which included many ilima and ginger plants.
"He was a good family man," she said. "We always had kids around. He enjoyed having them around and didn’t mind the noise because that meant he knew where they were. He really cared for them."
In addition to his wife, Chong is also survived by sons Charles and Simon, daughter Donna, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Visitation starts at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Hawaiian Memorial Park Mortuary, with services to follow at 11 a.m. and burial at 1 p.m at Hawaiian Memorial Park. Online condolences at hawaiianmemorialparkmortuary.com.
