Interview with Felix Ballesteros

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lanai2014_3_ballesteros.pdf (549.79 KB)

Date

2014

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Nishimoto, Warren

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Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

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Felix Ballesteros, third of six children, was born to Ilocano immigrants, Telesforo and Maria Ballesteros, in 1932, in Kaʻelekū, Hana, Maui, where his father cultivated and harvested sugar cane for the Kaʻelekū Sugar Company. In 1943, the family moved to Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi, where Telesforo Ballesteros continued to work as an agricultural laborer for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. During World War II, Felix Ballesteros earned a little money shining the shoes of soldiers stationed on the island, while his mother supplemented the family income by doing the soldiers’ laundry. From the age of twelve, he also worked in the pineapple fields when Lānaʻi High and Elementary School was not in session. Following graduation in 1951, he held various jobs on Lānaʻi and the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. He worked as a bowling alley pinsetter, a seasonal pineapple field worker, a construction worker, sugar cane harvester, seed cane planter, and coffee picker. In 1955, he returned to Lānaʻi where he did seasonal work for Hawaiian Pineapple Company. From 1956 to 1979, he worked at the Nishimura Service Station, taking on more and more tasks to the point of becoming a full-fledged mechanic, servicing Hawaiian Pineapple Company vehicles. A school custodian on Lanai from 1979–1993 and a part-time employee of Maui Soda since 1975, Felix Ballesteros still works for Maui Soda Company. Married since 1957, he is the father of two children, grandfather of four, and great-grandfather of two.

Description

Interview conducted in English.
Interview conducted at Lānaʻi City, Lānaʻi.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10125/35603

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55 pages

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Lānaʻi: Reflecting on the Past; Bracing for the Future
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