RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Jean Nobuko Kurahara Suzuki was born in Pa`ia, Maui, on February 28, 1919, and graduated from Maui High School; and

WHEREAS, she started her career as a cafeteria manager working at Kealahou, Waiakoa, and Keauhua schools before beginning her long tenure with Ha`iku Elementary School in 1952; and

WHEREAS, Jean Suzuki was the cafeteria manager at Ha`iku Elementary School until 1988 and it is believed that her thirty-six years of service to Ha`iku Elementary School make her its longest serving employee; and

WHEREAS, her total cumulative years as cafeteria manager for the various school is forty-four years; and

WHEREAS, Jean Suzuki passed away on January 19, 2006, at Maui Memorial Medical Center; and

WHEREAS, at a recent memorial service held in her honor, mourners, including former students and their children, shared fond memories of Jean Suzuki's meticulous care of the kitchen and the good food that was prepared there; and

WHEREAS, both thrifty and generous, Jean Suzuki nourished the children with midmorning soups prepared with the prior day's leftovers, shared her own children's hand-me-downs with them, and let them share a ride into town with her when she left for the day; and

WHEREAS, many former students remember the homemaking skills that they learned from her; and

WHEREAS, Jean Suzuki graced Ha`iku Elementary School for the last time in 2005, when she worked side-by-side with other volunteers in the kitchen preparing cookies to raise funds for the Ha`iku School Centennial; and

WHEREAS, it is only fitting that the Ha`iku Elementary School cafeteria where she dedicated thirty-six years of service be known as the Jean Suzuki cafeteria; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Ha`iku Elementary School is requested to dedicate its cafeteria in remembrance of Jean Suzuki and to refer to the cafeteria as the Jean Suzuki cafeteria from this day forward in her honor; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Principal of Ha`iku Elementary School and the Superintendent of Education.

Report Title:

Haiku Elementary School; Jean Suzuki Cafeteria