Castle triplets return to their Hawai'i roots
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
More than 30 years ago, a Marine gunnery sergeant and his wife left Hawai'i for California cradling their three 6-week-old daughters.
"We were apprehensive about the flight," said Karen Ordonio of Chula Vista, Calif., who lived here for three years while husband David Ordonio was stationed at Kane'ohe. "But our pediatrician (Dr. Duke Cho Choy) told us not to worry, they would sleep all the way."
Karen Ordonio and her triplet daughters, 30 years ago at what was then Castle Memorial Hospital near Kailua.
Recalling what happened on the five-hour flight to California, Karen Ordonio added: "They cried all the way."
Hospital officials say the Ordonio daughters are the only set of triplets born in the 38-year history of Castle Medical Center, formerly Castle Memorial Hospital. The triplets celebrated their 30th birthday yesterday by visiting their birthplace and met Hamilton Winston, the doctor who delivered them.
"I've thought about them from time to time so it was a nice surprise," said Winston, who is retiring at the end of the month.
David and Karen Ordonio, who have two sons in addition to the triplets, named their daughters Kimberly, Kathryn and Kathleen. Kimberly is fraternal while her sisters are identical twins.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
Kimberly "Kim" Fiala, whose husband is in the Navy and stationed at Pearl Harbor, is the oldest. She was born Nov. 8, 1971 at 11:27 a.m. Kathryn "Katie" Wiggs, a resident of Blythe, Calif., arrived six minutes later. Then Kathleen "Kathy" Ridenour of Corona, Calif., came into the world at 11:36 a.m.
Karen Ordonio, Dr. Hamilton Winston and David Ordonio, right, sing "Happy Birthday" to, from left, Kathleen Ridenour, Kathryn Wiggs and Kimberly Fiala. Winston, who retires at the end of the month, helped deliver the triplets.
Fiala is an account clerk for Johnson Brothers of Hawai'i. Her husband, Glenn, is on his second tour of duty at Pearl Harbor. Until this week, she hadn't seen her sisters in a year.
"We just decided to celebrate our 30th birthday in Hawai'i," Kimberly Fiala said. "It was Kathy's idea to visit the hospital. When we checked the Internet, we saw that the doctor who delivered us was still practicing."
It's the first trip to Hawai'i for Wiggs, a registered dental assistant, and Ridenour, who works for Riverside County Hazmat.
Of his tour in Hawai'i, David Ordonio said: "I came here with one 4-year-old and left with five children three years later. It must've been something in the water."
The most asked question about the triplets is why the Ordonios named one Kathryn and another Kathleen.
"Kathryn is named after my mother," Karen Ordonio said. Her husband added, "When it came to naming the third, we wanted to stick with a K. Before they were born, all we had were boys' names."
Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com
