Irvin T. Carlsen celebrated his 100th birthday at the Pahoa Senior Center April 8 with his family and friends. The Hawaii County Nutrition Program honored their member with hula performances by the Hula Mai O Mo Ani Ani under kumu hula Mary Jane Kamoku and Nohealani Akioka-Sarong’s ukulele group.
Irvin T. Carlsen celebrated his 100th birthday at the Pahoa Senior Center April 8 with his family and friends. The Hawaii County Nutrition Program honored their member with hula performances by the Hula Mai O Mo Ani Ani under kumu hula Mary Jane Kamoku and Nohealani Akioka-Sarong’s ukulele group.
Everybody enjoyed the feast and joined in popular songs from his younger days, the 1940s. Carlsen, born in Standish, Calif., was trained in electronics and has had a lifetime of experience as a radio broadcaster. In his time, he was known as “The Voice of the Central Valley” of California.
His sonorous voice was heard in such disparate places as Reno, Nev., Santa Rosa, Calif., San Francisco, Redding, Calif., and Oakland, Calif. In 1980 after his retirement, he moved to his all-time favorite spot, the Big Island of Hawaii. Settling in Puna, he passed his time with snorkeling and doing experiments with electronics, solar and wind energy. Carlsen is father of five, grandfather of 12 and great-grandfather of five. He has a 90-year-old girlfriend, and he made it to 100 without taking medications.
His mind is as active as ever, and he loves to converse with everybody, especially about visions of the future and natural ways of living on this island that he loves so much.