Loving words mark life of fallen officer

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

KAPOLEI — Friends, family and co-workers yesterday remembered Glen Gaspar as a youth sports coach, Monty Python fan and once-rascally kid who'd turned his energy toward a career on the police force.

Police Chaplain Alex Vergara and kahu Kordell Kekoa of the Kamehameha Schools officiated at a blessing ceremony yesterday at the Kapolei Baskin-Robbins, the site of the shooting death of officer Glen Gaspar. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Gaspar, 40, was fatally shot Tuesday while trying to arrest an attempted-murder suspect inside the Baskin-Robbins shop in Kapolei Shopping Center.

Yesterday a line of bouquets, balloons and stuffed animals marked the walk outside the shuttered ice cream parlor as people came to pay their respects and recall the 12-year veteran.

Baskin-Robbins shop owner Larry Kee closed his store for the day and arranged for a memorial service outside the shop yesterday afternoon. Kahu Kordell Kekoa, senior chaplain at the Kamehameha Schools and Gaspar's classmate there, officiated.

"It's a shock to the community that something like this could happen in Kapolei," said Kee, who has owned the ice cream store since the mall opened in 1993. "There has been such an outpouring of love to honor him."

More than 100 people, including Gaspar's father and two brothers, hugged, held hands and wiped away tears. Kekoa asked them to celebrate Gaspar's life and remember him as a hero.

"It scares me. I get so concerned not only for my son but for the other officers, too," Horikawa, 75, of Wahiawa, said through tears. "I'm still shaky. I couldn't sleep last night. I was crying."

Growing up at the top of 'Alewa Heights, Gaspar attended Ma'ema'e Elementary School and enrolled in the Kamehameha Schools in the seventh grade.

He worked for the city's street lighting division for eight years before joining the police force.

Greig Gaspar never thought his youngest brother would become an officer.

"It was a shocker for me because we weren't the best kids," said Greig Gaspar, whose other brother, Gilbert Jr., is an officer with the Hawai'i County Police Department. "We were so naughty."

Officer Glen Gaspar, 40, served with the Honolulu Police Department for 12 years. HPD photo

"I always thought he had a weird sense of humor," Greig Gaspar said.

Easy to work with, Glen Gaspar quickly fit in with the Career Criminal Unit, to which he had been assigned the past two years.

"He really had a passion for the job," Capt. Alan Arita said. "Whenever we needed him, he was there, 24-7. He was the kind of guy that got along with everyone."

Gaspar had divorced from his wife, Renee, three years ago, but they remained friends and he coached their daughters, Kiana and Taysia, in soccer and basketball.

"As a coach he was extremely patient," said Cornair, whose daughter Lia played on the same teams as Taysia. "He'd go over things until they got it."

But Gaspar would also get into water-bottle fights with his players, Cornair said.

Greig Gaspar said he couldn't sleep Tuesday night, in the 'Alewa Heights home still filled with photos of his youngest brother.

"It's been hard," he said, wiping tears from his eyes. "A part of me died when my brother died."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.