Hawaii 24/7 Staff

The public is invited to a memorial service for the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, a war hero, distinguished president pro-tempore of the United States Senate, and an effective advocate for the people of Hawaii for more than five decades.

The Big Island memorial is Thursday, Dece. 27, at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo. Visitation will begin at noon with a service beginning at 1 p.m.

Led by Kahu Daniel Kaniela Akaka, Jr., the service will include remembrances by State Sen. Malama Solomon; former State Sen. Dwight Takamine, who now is director of the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Barry Taniguchi, president and CEO of KTA Super Stores; Monty Richards, chairman of Kahua Ranch; Kaiu Kimura, director of Imiloa Astronomy Center; and Mayor Billy Kenoi.

The Inouye family requests no flowers and no koden. They request instead that donations be made to the Daniel K. Inouye Fund at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, 827 Fort Street Mall, Honolulu, 96813.

Contributions may also be made at www.HawaiiCommunityFoundation.org.

The fund will continue to help organizations and causes the Senator championed over the years.

Also, Kenoi invites the public to share their memories, thoughts, and aloha for Inouye in memorial books.

The books will be available through Dec. 28 at the Mayor’s Offices at the Hawaii County Building and the West Hawaii Civic Center.

The public is invited to come in to sign the books and remember a man who did so much for the people of Hawaii for so long. At the end of next week, the books will be sent to the Inouye family.

The Mayor’s Office is open weekdays from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but closed Christmas Day.

For more information, call the Mayor’s Office in Kona at 323-4444 or in Hilo at 961-8211.

Services also are planned on Maui and Kauai, although Inouye was laid to rest Sunday, Dec. 23 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.