Emme Tomimbang Burns — a pioneer in Hawaii radio and television, successful multimedia businesswoman and ardent supporter of the local Filipino community — died Monday while undergoing emergency open-heart surgery at The Queen’s Medical Center. She was 73.
Gov. Josh Green remembered Tomimbang Burns as “a dear, caring storyteller and friend.”
“From her early days on the anchor desk for TV news to later producing television specials, Emme told stories from her heart,” Green said in a written statement. “She tackled some tough subjects as a broadcast journalist, but also shared stories of compelling island people in her ‘Emme’s Island Moments’ specials and that is how most people knew her. Privately, as the wife of former Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge, the late James Burns, she became an important part of the state Judiciary ohana.”
Veteran Hawaii television newscaster Lynne T. Waters remembered Tomimbang Burns as the only person who welcomed her when she came to Hawaii in 1981 to anchor the KITV news.
“The only person who was nice to me was — literally — Emme. Over the years she became my best friend in Hawaii. I can’t imagine a world without her,” Waters said Tuesday.
Born Emmeline Tomimbang on Oct. 28, 1950, in Honolulu, she was raised on Oahu, graduated from Farrington High School and earned a liberal arts degree at Leeward Community College and a bachelor’s degree in secondary education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
By the time she received her degrees, she already was building a career for herself in local media. As a teen she hosted a radio show on KNDI and then joined the staff of KISA, the first Filipino-owned radio station in the United States.
From there she transitioned to television, first at KITV and then to the KHON “Morning News.”
Tomimbang’s visibility gave her celebrity status outside the Filipino community. In Waikiki, during the height of the disco era, she was a member of a small group of high-profile 20-something Filipinos who called themselves The Groovy People (TGP) and stood out in local discos.
In 1984, Tomimbang married James S. Burns, son of the late Hawaii Gov. John A. Burns. It was the second marriage for both of them, and the love of a lifetime.
Looking for opportunities beyond covering news and personalities at a single local television station, Tomimbang Burns formed her own namesake production company, Emme Tomimbang Multi-Media Enterprises (aka EMME Inc.), and created more than two decades of entertainment journalism as president/executive producer and on-camera host of “Emme’s Island Moments.”
Jim Burns retired as chief judge of the Appeals Court in 2007. In 2011, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, and his wife became his chief caregiver. But in 2012 she suffered a brain aneurysm, and for a time the devoted couple switched the caregiving roles.
In a May 28, 2013, MidWeek article, they discussed the health challenges and caring for each other.
“From the time my treatment started, Emme was a 24-hours-per-day, seven-days-per-week expert caregiver,” Burns said. “She did all that was necessary for her to learn what to do, how and when to do it, and then she did it. It was a demanding job, and I have no doubt it contributed to her serious health problem.”
Burns died from cancer in 2017.
In recent years Tomimbang Burns gave back to the community by establishing and overseeing endowments and scholarships for underserved and disadvantaged groups.
Dr. Lee Buenconsejo-Lum, interim dean at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, described Tomimbang Burns as “a huge supporter” of the school.
“In part because of Jim, she was very active with everything, lots of behind-the-scenes (things) and just really helping our deans, especially the ones that were not from here originally, really helping to make sure they kind of understood the history, the community, the impact, the legacy, that type of stuff,” Buenconsejo-Lum said.
“She was always working so hard to give opportunities to our kids from underrepresented communities. That’s where she helped with the Nadine Kahanamoku Scholarships (for Native Hawaiians). They came from Nadine Kahanamoku, but she and Nadine were very close, so she was one of the people that helped to kind of look after the scholarship (after Kahanamoku’s death in 1997). And then, just recently this past year, there was the scholarship in her and Jim’s name that they awarded to two young Filipina female students.”
Tomimbang Burns also funded programs at Farrington High School that supported students who wanted to serve as health care professionals in rural areas, as well as programs aiding aspiring journalists and other media professions.
“She really wanted to give back to the next generation of young people coming up because so many people had helped her on her way,” Waters said. “I think it’s a beautiful thing.”
U.S. Rep. Ed Case said he saw Tomimbang Burns on Sunday when she was co-emceeing the Day of Remembrance commemoration at the Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin in Nuuanu.
“Day of Remembrance is for the day that President Roosevelt signed the executive order that interned Japanese Americans (in 1942), and George Takei came to talk about that, but it was also a date to remember injustice wherever it arises, whether it be social injustice or racial injustice or anything, so the last time I saw Emme, she was emceeing an event that went to causes near and dear to her heart.”
Memorial services are pending.
