Interview with Dennis Hokama

Abstract

Dennis Hokama, youngest of three children of Eiso Hokama and Kiyoko Higa Hokama who were originally from Maui, was born in 1947 in Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi. Eiso and Kiyoko came to Lānaʻi from Maui as children with their parents, who were immigrants from Okinawa. Eiso held a variety of jobs for Hawaiian Pineapple Company, including heavy equipment operator, welder, and construction supervisor. Kiyoko worked at the store known as International Food and Clothing Center. Dennis Hokama and siblings grew up in Down Camp at the family home, located at Fraser Avenue and Thirteenth Street. He attended Lānaʻi High and Elementary School. During summer vacations, he worked in the pineapple fields. After graduating in 1965, he left to attend University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, earning a fifth-year teaching certificate in 1970. That same year, he began his long career as an educator, teaching social studies at ʻAiea High School. In 1976, he returned to Lānaʻi High and Elementary School where he taught; three years later, he was named vice principal at the school. In 1989, he again left Lānaʻi to be principal at Haʻikū Elementary School on Maui. Two years later, he became principal at Kalama Intermediate School. In 1995, he was named principal at Honoluluʼs Roosevelt High School. Retired since 2007, Dennis Hokama remains active in teacher and government union affairs. Married to Bonnie since 1972, he has two adult daughters. He still owns a home on Lānaʻi.