Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 4, Number 3, 1 March 1987 — Lone Hawaiian Woman House Member Aware of 'Model' Role [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Lone Hawaiian Woman House Member Aware of 'Model' Role

"I am very proud to be Hawaiian and have always been cognizant of my role as a 'model' to other aspiring young Hawaiian women who would like to serve in the legislature one day." This statement eame from the only Hawaiian woman legislator currently serving in the State House of Representatives. It eame in response to a Ka Wai Ola O OHA inquiry on her status as a Hawaiian inasmuch as this is "Ho'olako 1987: The Year of the Hawaiian." Rep. Eloise Yamashita Tungpalan, who serves this session as assistant majority House leader, gave this response: "Yes, I am very proud to be Hawaiian. My mother is the former Louise Kapela from the Big Island and both of my parents were one-half Hawaiian. My mother is also one-half Chinese. My father is the late Thomas Yamashita and he was one-half Japanese and one-half Portuguese. So I'm the sum of these two great parents: one-quar-ter Hawaiian, one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter Japanese and one-quarter Portuguese."

Rep. Tungpalan, whose 14-year-old daughter, Laurie, is a ninth grader at Kamehameha School, is married to Cirio Tungpalan out of Laoag in the Philippines. They also have two sons, David, 10, and Jonathan, 5, students at Palisades Elementary School. Her husband is employed by the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Parks and Recreation, as recreation director at the Pearlridge Community Center. Rep. T ungpalan paid special tribute to those mothers who have to eomhine a career and raise a family. "1 eommend those mothers — Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian — who work and raise a family. It takes a lot of patience, understanding and perseverance. Working mothers should be considered special," she explained. Referring onee more to being Hawaiian, Rep. Tungpalan noted that "only in Hawaii ean we share such a wonderful heritage." Ka Wai Ola O OH A extends its mahalo to Rep. T ungpalan for sharing her feelings about being Hawaiian.

Rep. Eloise Tungpalan