The late State Rep. Clift Tsuji remembered as champion of UH Hilo
Rep. Tsuji teamed with the late Sen. Gil Kahele to provide evidence to the Hawai‘i State Legislature that the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy was worthy of funding for a permanent building.
Hawai‘i Representative Clift Tsuji, 74, passed away at The Queen’s Medical Center on O‘ahu Nov. 15. Rep. Tsuji, a valued supporter of the pharmacy college at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, represented House District 2 including Keaukaha, parts of Hilo, Pana‘ewa and Waiākea
Rep. Tsuji teamed with the late Sen. Gil Kahele to provide evidence to the Hawai‘i State Legislature that the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy was worthy of funding for a permanent building. He was a constant, smiling presence in many college events, including commencement, many White Coat ceremonies, educational visits and more.
“Rep. Clift Tsuji played a major role in shaping us as a college in ways that many of us probably do not realize,” says Carolyn Ma, dean of the college. “For many years, Rep. Tsuji was our champion on the House side of the state’s legislature. His sudden passing reminds us to stop for a moment and give thanks for friends and supporters who grace us with their time and efforts.”
Rep. Tsuji was first elected to District 3 of the House of Representatives in 2004 and was chairman of the Agriculture Committee. Among his many awards, he received the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau’s Legislator of the Year Award in 2015. He received the UH Hilo Distinguished Service Award in 2009.
He succeeded Jerry Chang, now UH Hilo director of university relations, to represent District 2 when Hawai‘i Island was redistricted in 2012. The pair had worked side by side for many years.
“It was a pleasure working with my good friend and colleague, Representative Clift Tsuji, who was a staunch supporter of the UH Hilo College of Pharmacy,” Chang says. “He worked tirelessly from getting the program approved by the Board of Regents to helping to acquire legislative funding for a new building.”
Raised in Papaikou on the Island of Hawai’i, Tsuji was a 1959 graduate of Hilo High School. He completed his post-secondary degrees at UH Mānoa and the University of Washington, Pacific Coast Banking School. Tsuji served in the U.S. Army Reserve, 442nd Infantry, Company B, Hilo, from 1959-1965. He was program director at KIPA Radio, and senior vice president of Central Pacific Bank for more than 30 years.
He was active with the Hilo Medical Center Foundation, Hawai‘i Island Japanese Community Association, Pacific Tsunami Museum, Hiroshima Kenjin Kai, Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce, and the Kumamoto Kenjin Kai.
“As with Gil Kahele, I have been friends with Clift Tsuji for a lot of years and the Big Island feels a little less substantial without them,” says Gerald De Mello, former director of university relations for UH Hilo who is credited for helping to shape the College of Pharmacy from the ground up.
“Behind that modest demeanor was a man who thought deeply and carefully about what was best for the people of Hawai‘i, and the College of Pharmacy was among the top on his list of positive causes he chose to support,” De Mello says. “And with our stirring issues and pressing controversies, Hawai‘i will miss his sensibility and his civic-minded concern for the well-being of Hawai‘i and, likewise, his approachableness and manner of civility. I will miss him greatly.”
-via University Relations.
