Nelson Ho, a prominent Hawaii Island environmental and political activist, died after a long illness Tuesday at Hilo Medical Center. He was 73.
Ho was a former statewide chairman of the Sierra Club and also served on its national board. In addition, he served on the boards of the Conservation Council for Hawaii and Pono Hawaii Initiative.
The son of a medical doctor, Ho was born in Philadelphia. The family moved to Honolulu during his infancy and he grew up in the Nuuanu neighborhood. A graduate of Roosevelt High School and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, he relocated to the Big Island in 1979.
In the 1980s, he was active with the Sierra Club and Pele Defense Fund in an effort to prevent environmental damage from geothermal development.
He also worked for the state and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in their efforts to control invasive species.
From the 1990s on, Ho was a vocal critic of the management of Maunakea by the University of Hawaii and the Department of Land and Natural Resources. He was part of the Thirty Meter Telescope protests in 2015 and 2019. He also lobbied against the Hawaii Superferry in the 2000s, and the company declared bankruptcy after a Maui judge ruled it couldn’t operate while the state did an environmental assessment.
Ho wrote numerous opinion pieces for Hawaii newspapers including the Tribune-Herald. His last, published a year ago today in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, was critical of Gov. Josh Green’s appointment of Dawn Chang as chairwoman of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Land and Natural Resources.
“Nelson spent most of his life trying to protect the ‘aina that he cherished,” said Tom Peek, author of “Mauna Kea” and “Daughters of Fire,” and a longtime friend of Ho.
“He fought all those battles with his innate positive energy and a deep respect for, and command of, the facts, always sharing his knowledge — and his aloha — with his comrades in the fight, and even with his adversaries, who grew to respect him, many with genuine affection.”
Ho taught environmental studies courses at Hawaii Community College, and former Mayor Harry Kim chose Ho to be deputy director of the Department of Environmental Management.
“I went to the Keaau Transfer Station, and there he was, working for the redemption and recycling place,” Kim recalled. “He was with a rake, working very hard and saying hello to people. And I knew who he was. I knew his job. He wasn’t a janitor.
“That image of him stuck in my mind. I like people who work, not based on the position, but to get the job done.”
Kim said he sought Ho’s opinion and counsel, knowing he would get “the absolute truth of what he thought.”
An avid hiker and kayaker who loved literature, Ho’s lifelong interests included photography, nature, science, ecology and astronomy.
Ho and his wife, Jennifer — a licensed massage therapist from Catalina Island in California — crossed paths often, but it was while kayaking she realized there was a special connection.
“At some point, out on the water, the kayaks stop, and he swings his legs over the side and busts out a bag of wasabi raisins or something local,” she said. ”I just felt: I know this person. He’s just like the ones on Catalina Island, where people are rugged. They go hiking and swimming and their relationship to the outdoors is primary.”
They were married in 1997 in a Quaker ceremony.
“He was this very charismatic person who totally loved life, loved to laugh and was completely dedicated to the environment. Now, how could you go wrong with that?”
Added Kim, “Nelson made it his business to make the world a better place than how he found it.”
In addition to wife Jennifer, Ho is survived by a stepdaughter, Hi‘iaka Kahalewai. Services are pending.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.