Facility to bear Takai’s name

To honor the late U.S. Rep. Mark Takai, the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center at the Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park in Waipio will soon bear the congressman’s name.

The City Council resolution adopted Thursday to rename the facility the K. Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center was introduced by Councilmen Ron Menor and Brandon Elefante. Menor had said his office approached the family about the renaming.

“Swimming was always a big part of his life, even after he stopped competitively,” said the late congressman’s wife, Sami Takai, who was joined Thursday at the Council’s meeting by several family members to show support for the renaming.

In an emotional moment, she held back tears as she thanked the Council for considering it — at one point embracing Naomi Takai, the congressman’s mother.

Naomi Takai said her grandson Matthew looks very much like his father did in the water. “It brings back wonderful memories,” she said. “It’s such an honor. His legacy is going to live on. He was a person who looked at generations to come.”

Takai, known as a champion of veterans issues, served in the state House of Representatives for 20 years before he won a seat in Congress in 2014 to represent urban Oahu. A graduate of Pearl City High School and the University of Hawaii, he was also a standout swimmer in high school and college. He served as a lieutenant colonel in the Hawaii Army National Guard and deployed to the Middle East in 2009.

He died in July at age 49 from pancreatic cancer.

The renaming garnered unanimous support from Council members, and Mayor Kirk Caldwell said in a statement that it is “a fitting tribute because swimming is all about focus and drive, which is how Congressman Takai lived his life and accomplished so much for this community.”