Gordon was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend. He was born on August 30, 1940 to the late Toru and Miyoshi (Shishido) Tomita in Puunene Hospital in Puunene, Maui. He grew up in Spanish B Camp on Puunene Plantation and attended Puunene Grade School and graduated in 1958 from Baldwin High School. He joined the National Guard while still in high school and was discharged July 3, 1958 and sworn into the US Army on July 4, 1958. Gordon’s education as an aircraft mechanic began while he was in the Army. After his Honorable Discharge, Gordon completed his training at Northrop Institute of Technology in California. He joined Hawaiian Airlines as an aircraft mechanic in 1964 and retired after 38 years of service in 2002. During his employment at Hawaiian Airlines, his work sent Gordon to many countries including Trinidad and Canada.
Gordon enjoyed fishing and continued to fish whenever he found some time. He took up golf while working at Hawaiian. Although he didn’t play towards the end of his work career, Gordon dusted off his clubs after he retired, golfing 1 to 2 days a week to improve his skills as a golfer. Everyone who knew Gordon knew that he loved to cook. He loved to make his ‘special dishes’ and enjoyed sharing them with family and friends. Some of his most famous dishes were Chicken Long Rice, Chicken Hekka, and tsukemono.
Gordon had a lifelong interest in history, in particular focusing on his Japanese heritage. As a part of learning more about all aspects of Japanese culture, Gordon took an ikebana class where he met May Hiraoka – his soul mate. May was his best friend and in a true love match, they wed on May 2, 1998. Gordon and May shared many things including a love of animals, researching their family history both in Hawaii and Japan, meeting “new found” relatives during their Japan visits, and a wide circle of family and friends.
Gordon worked diligently on his family history, researching and identifying lineage of all four branches of his family. The koseki (family register) was almost complete and Gordon was looking forward to sharing it with his family. The koseki will be one of Gordon’s enduring legacies.
After reading a Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii article about Honouliuli (an internment camp on Oahu), Gordon’s interest in being a volunteer there increased and he became a volunteer in 2008, volunteering at least two days a week until 2012. Gordon’s passion was history and what more appropriate way to help than in the Resource Center at JCCH, as well as serve on the Honouliuli committee. He shared his vast knowledge about internment camps in hopes that this will never happen again. He also tried to encourage people of all ethnicities to volunteer or at least visit the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.
Gordon is survived by his wife, May Hiraoka-Tomita, son, Todd T. (Renee) Tomita, daughters, Fern F. (Jeff) Selvala of Arizona and Dale M. (Van) Gatlin of Oregon, brother, Ronald Y. Tomita of Maui, sister, Claire H. (Arthur) Suzuki of Maui, grandchildren, Michael “Mikey” Gatlin of Oregon, Dean Tomita of Pearl City, David Selvala of Arizona, Michael Selvala of Arizona, Cameron Noelani Gatlin of Oregon. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews, aunties, cousins and a very large ohana.
As Gordon wished, there will be no funeral or memorial service. Please no koden. In lieu of flowers or koden, please consider donations to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, Islands Hospice or your favorite charity.
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