Colin Leong

Thanks for the email on Ethan.  I saw it in this morning's paper also. I think I went to school longer than any other '62 classmate.  We went to St. Elizabeth kindergarten one year before starting at Iolani in kindergarten.  Can't forget his rough and ready character, and his working hard to do his best.  

Aloha,

Ken (Kenneal Chun). 1/19/22

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Sorry to receive news of Ethan’s passing. My condolences to his family, friends and classmates. May he Rest In Peace!
 

 from Rolin's iPad (Rolin Soong). 1/19/22

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Just read it this morning, Colin. Didn’t seem like anyone at golf knew yesterday. Good memories. 

Not sure if you knew Dave Jung from SFO, but got word he passed away last week. Friend of Kenny Ching and did undergrad at UH. 
 

Sent from my iPhone (Nate Wong). 1/19/22

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Colin Leong

Dear classmates and friends,

Today I attended the Celebration of Life service for Ethan Park, so I thought I would share some images and thoughts from that event.

Most of you are probably unaware that Ethan and I were pretty close during our college years, as we both used to work at the Garden and Hardware Departments of the old GEM store in Kapalama, where his mom served as one of the managers. So we also did stuff after work, often shooting pool in some pretty sketchy places in Chinatown (Does anyone remember Cebu Pool Hall?). We had a lot of fun in those days doing crazy things and getting into mild trouble every now and then. I used to call him "Chinn," which was a shortened form of his Korean name, as did all of his family and many of his closest friends. I will always remember his big smile and fun loving personality. Being a fast sprinter and a tough fighter (remember when he beefed Murray Holt?), it made me feel a bit safer having him around when we visited some of those sketchy places around town late at night. We used to spend time at each other's homes, and I will never forget one night when we helped his mom shred several codfish by hand to help prepare the fish for making taegu—boy, was that hard work!

The last time I saw Ethan was at a funeral quite a few years ago, but he didn't recognize me at that time. He had been suffering from dementia for quite awhile, and his heroic wife, Janice, has been taking care of him almost single handedly for the past 15 years. But she said that he died peacefully surrounded by family. He was a great provider, husband and dad (father of one son and two daughters, one of whom is deceased). She also said that he was mellow and very easy to handle despite his ailments. He was quite a rifleman during his years in the army, and he did fight in the Vietnam war. 

For obvious reasons, most of us prefer to remember him during his more vigorous years, when he always tried to live life to the fullest. A hard worker who did everything with much gusto and enthusiasm, I shall always remember his laugh and big smile. He was a good guy who would do anything for his friends and family, and it was obvious from what was said at today's service that

 he was deeply loved and appreciated by many. I regret losing touch with Ethan over the last couple decades, but I will always have fond memories of him and our friendship. 

Rest in Peace, my friend!

(Leighton Liu)

1/24/22

Colin Leong

Thank you Leighton. I want to relate something I knew about Ethan having played football with him on the freshmen and JV teams at Iolani. As Leighton said, Ethan was a sprinter but he wasn’t very big as far as football goes. He played running back. I played QB and handed the ball off to Ethan. I remember many times when Ethan got pounded by bigger lineman. He never let up, he’d run just as hard the next time. I remember saying to myself this boy is fearless, he had a great heart.
 

(Vince Goshi, 1/25/22)

Randall Abe

Yes Ethan was a very cheerful man always with a smile. The last time I saw him and spoke with him when I was working at Gem Kapalama in the auto repair departmen. He was managing the shoe department I believe. Heard in the later years he had health problems but never had the chance to say "hello" again. Rest in peace my friend..........Randy......................