Mayor Expresses Condolences on Passing of Council Chair’s Father, Jay Takaya

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino on Friday expressed his condolences to Maui County Council Chair Kelly King and her family for the loss of her father, Jay Takaya.

“The loss of a beloved parent is an extremely difficult time, and I extend my deep sympathy to Council Chair King and her family,” Mayor Victorino said. “I ask the people of Maui County to join me, Joycelyn and our ʻohana in praying for the Takaya and King families in their time of grief.”

Takaya was born in June 1931 and was incarcerated in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II, according to Mayor Victorino. He raised five children, worked as a machinist and was a restauranteur and part-owner of a landscape nursery with his brothers.

He passed away Dec. 4, 2019. He was 88 years old. He lived in Santa Barbara, Calif., with Tina Takaya, Chair King’s sister and primary caregiver.

“I am grateful for the lessons of my own childhood which have helped shape my willingness to serve community,” Chair King said. “My father’s experiences of being incarcerated in the internment camps of WWII, of facing discrimination in his own community and of raising five children, instilled in me a great quest for truth, tolerance for human differences and a fierce sense of responsibility to protect the less fortunate.”