Irvin Leon King

Irvin Leon King, a retired University of Hawaii Professor, passed away earlier this month at the age of 87. He is survived by his two daughters, Melissa Cordero and Melinda Sablan, and a step son Miles Kinoshita.

Irvin was born in San Bernardino, California to Emma and Ray King. Along with his sister Marilyn, and brothers Kenneth, Ross, Donald and Dale, he had a humble beginning in life, working with his parents as a family of migrant farm workers in fields and orchards from Washington to California. The family eventually settled in Redlands, California where Irvin and his siblings attended public schools.

Irvin graduated from Redlands High School and was a student leader and athlete, serving as president of several organizations and lettering in Basketball and Tennis. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Teaching Credential in Mathematics from the University of California at Riverside and after teaching high school Mathematics for several years, he earned scholarships to pursue advanced degrees. He earned a Masters degree in Mathematics from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He then joined the faculty of the University of Hawaii College of Education where he trained Math and Science teachers for the schools of Hawaii.

Irvin was a teacher and a professor for 43 years. For 36 of these years he was a member of the Hawaii Academy of Science which sponsors the annual Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair. The State Fair is part of the International Science Fair competition where each year more than 7 million high school students from around the world conduct scientific research to compete for more than $5,000,000 in college scholarships. Irvin served as the Principal Investigator and Chief Fund Raiser for the Hawaii State Science Fair for 23 of those years.

For more than 20 years he spent his summer months as a volunteer Math Education Consultant for the regions of Micronesia (Palau, Saipan, Yap, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, and the Marshall Islands). Irvin also served as President of his home owners association for more than 20 years.

Irvin’s dedication to serving others stemmed from his humble beginning in life and the moral training he received at the YMCA during his youth. He felt a strong obligation to assist the less fortunate he met along the way. For instance, whenever someone asked him for spare change for something to eat, he would look in his wallet and say, “I’m sorry, I don’t have any spare change. You’ll just have to take this.” And hand the person a 20 dollar bill.

Irvin loved the sunshine of the islands~ sharing knowledge and laughter wherever he went~ and will be missed by those he knew along the way.