Farewell Senator Stanley Hara

I was saddened to hear the passing of former State Senator Stanley Hara who died on December 1, 2009.  He was elected as a representative to the Hawai’i Territorial Legislature in 1954 and served in the state Senate until 1980.  I talked to Senator Hara at my friends’ wedding in the early years of my political career.  Thereafter, he contributed funds to my campaign.  I would see him in events up to this year’s joint House and Senate legislative floor session commemorating the 50th Year Anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood.  We honored him and other 1959 state elected officials on the floor of the House chambers.  He was a part of the historic 1954 Democratic Revolution class.  In his private side, he worked in real estate and real estate development on the Island of Hawaii.  Senator Hara played a key role in the Hawaii we see today.