State Rep. Clift Tsuji died Tuesday at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, the House of Representatives said in a statement. He was 75.
Tsuji’s son, Ryan Kalei Tsuji, said his father suffered a heart attack on Saturday, and died during heart surgery.
A retired senior vice president for Central Pacific Bank, Tsuji represented District 2, which includes Keaukaha, parts of Hilo, Panaewa and Waiakea.
“One of the things that my dad was passionate about was just helping people,” Ryan Tsuji said. “He surprised me, just how much he cared about not only the Hilo community, but the state as a whole.
“Up until the last moment, he was fine. He knew what was going on before the surgery. And one of the last conversations that we had, he told me, ‘We’ve got to get this meeting set up with the governor when I’m out, to make sure this project goes through. I’m concerned about this biosecurity bill. I want to make sure it gets passed.’ So I think, all the way to the end, he was passionate about this responsibility he had to represent the Hilo community.
“He was looking forward to this legislative session, and I think the legacy he wanted to leave behind was that commitment itself and his passion for the people. He truly, truly cared about his constituents.”
Tsuji was chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. Among his many awards, he was named the Hawaii Farm Bureau’s Legislator of the Year in 2015. He was a proponent of biotechnology and genetically modified crops, and also supported geothermal energy as an alternative to imported fossil fuels — stances that won him supporters and opponents.
“I asked him, ‘Why do you want Agriculture?’ Because it was such a controversial chairmanship to have, because of those issues,” Ryan Tsuji said. “I just felt it added so much unnecessary stress, but to him, agriculture was important, because it is the lifeline for the Big Island. With it, came all those other things. But, in the end, I think the opportunities he had to preserve and protect agriculture in the state and find funding mechanisms for invasive species control, for further inspectors. Those are things that he did on his own and legacy bills that he was able to champion.”
Tsuji was first elected to the House in 2004. In addition to his Agriculture Committee chairmanship, Tsuji sat on the committees for Economic Development and Business, Education, Higher Education, Tourism, and Veterans, Military and International Affairs and Culture and the Arts.
Born and raised in Papaikou, Tsuji was a 1959 graduate of Hilo High School and completed post-secondary degrees at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the University of Washington Pacific Coast Banking School.
Tsuji served in the U.S. Army Reserve, 442nd Infantry, Company B, Hilo, from 1959-65 and also was active with the Hilo Medical Center Foundation, Hawaii Island Japanese Community Association, Pacific Tsunami Museum, Hiroshima Kenjin Kai, Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce and the Kumamoto Kenjin Kai.
As news of Tsuji’s passing spread, so did tributes to him, as a man and legislator.
State Sen. Kai Kahele, who was just elected to the seat once occupied by his father, Gil, after the elder Kahele’s passing in January, recalled Tsuji as a hard worker and tireless campaigner.
“In the course of this past election, I would get up early in the morning and go sign-wave up on Komohana Street. I would be headed out about 6:15 or 6:30 in the morning, and Rep. Tsuji would already be out there,” Kahele said. “He’d be there by himself by the (University of Hawaii at Hilo) College of Pharmacy building, ahead of me. I’d honk my horn and wave at him, and he would wave at me, and I would go and take my position a quarter-mile down the road. But I would remember the smile and him waving to the motorists of Hilo. He never took it for granted.”
Gov. David Ige described Tsuji as “a quiet man with a big heart who had the courage to stand for his convictions.”
“He was a passionate leader and a vigorous advocate for the Hilo community. His legacy of service will be remembered by his constituents and all Hawaii Island residents. He was a personal friend, and I am going to miss his presence at the state Capitol,” Ige said.
It will fall upon Ige to appoint a successor to Tsuji, who also is survived by another son, Ashley Tsuji, and a brother, Patrick Tsuji.
Services are pending.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
