Waipahu woman, 89, missing for two weeks
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Police and family members yesterday asked for the public's help in finding Rose Gordon, an 89-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease who has been missing from her Waipahu home since Aug. 30.
Gordon is noted for giving birth to the state's first recorded triplets. She later helped with the wounded and displaced after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
GORDON
Gordon wandered away from a 71-year-old relative behind the Waipahu soccer fields, said her daughter, Norma DeCosta. She has not been seen by her family since.
Gordon is 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds. Her straight, shoulder-length hair is still mostly dark. She has brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, light-colored slacks and slippers.
She is a physically strong woman who enjoys climbing and walking, DeCosta said. Although she rarely remembers things for more than a few moments, she can carry on brief, coherent conversations and may not at first appear to have Alzheimer's, DeCosta said.
When walking, she said, her mother swings her arms and steps out like a young woman.
Gordon gave birth to 12 children, six of whom survived, DeCosta said. The Gordon home became a refuge for young, troubled neighbors, DeCosta said.
"She's a charmer and loves everybody," DeCosta said. "She'll say, "You must come visit — spend the night,' and these are people she just met. Everybody falls in love with Rosie."
Anyone with information about Gordon is asked to call Officer M. Aragones at 529-3064, or e-mail maragones@co.honolulu.hi.us
Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or blakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
