Posted on: Friday, December 7, 2001

Shigeomi Kubota, Kaua'i political leader

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua‘i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Shigeomi Kubota was gruff and irascible as a politician, but associates remember him as an honest man unafraid to challenge powerful forces over what he thought was right.

"He was a real stickler for doing the right thing," said Turk Tokita, longtime administrative assistant to the Kaua'i Board of Supervisors and its successor, the County Council.

Kubota, 86, who died Nov. 29, served three terms on the board from 1963 to 1968, and won election to two-year terms on the council in 1969 and 1973. He was the council chairman during his last term and was a Democrat throughout his career.

"He was very objective, straightforward and honest. He didn't play games," said Jerome Hew, a former councilman who retired as the county clerk.

Kubota, an accountant with Kaua'i Pineapple Co., was a founder of Garden Island Mortuary, and he made his name in the community as a sports official.

"I first remember Shigeomi from my high school days when he officiated our football games," said Burt Tsuchiya, a former county economic development director and former council member.

The sense of fair play that is a part of sports carried over for Kubota into politics. He did not hesitate to lecture those he felt were acting improperly.

"I've seen him go against the mayor. He would stand on principle and be the watchdog of county finances. He would always cite the Hawai'i Revised Statutes and the County Charter," Tokita said.

Kubota also had a fine sense of humor and could tell a story with a grin and a gleam in his eye.

"He was a good man with a kind heart, the last of Kaua'i's old school of politicians," Tsuchiya said.

Services were held Tuesday. He is survived by his wife, Bernice; sons, Brian and Burt; daughters, Adele Stevens, Sue Kubota and Louella Rita; brothers, Dr. Scott Kubota and Herbert Kubota; sister, Edna Imaoka; and four grandchildren.