Traffic fatality was makule softball figure

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hiroshi "Ole Lady" Inouye, a well-known makule softball league umpire and league manager, died Monday night at The Queen's Medical Center after he was hit by a car while walking on Diamond Head Road near Fort Ruger Park.

One of Hiroshi "Ole Lady" Inouye's friends said no one really knows how Inouye got his nickname.

Police said a 54-year-old woman driving a 1995 Toyota Camry hit Inouye at 4:55 p.m. Monday. The car drifted toward the right shoulder of the road when the woman reached for an item on the passenger seat, police said.

Inouye was walking on the roadway because there is no sidewalk in the area, said police Lt. Bennett Martin. He was not carrying identification, so police could not immediately notify relatives.

Hilda Inouye said she did not know her husband of 50-plus years was injured until her son, Jonathan, asked where his father was after hearing on a TV newscast that a pedestrian had been hit. "He sometimes stops to talk to people or goes in the back yard after his daily walk so I didn't miss him until my son asked," Hilda Inouye said.

Jonathan Inouye went to the accident scene and the family went to Queen's not knowing for sure if the injured person was Hiroshi Inouye.

"He never regained consciousness," Hilda Inouye said. "All of this happened so suddenly."

Hiroshi Inouye was running the makule softball league that plays at Ainakoa field on Sundays. He is best known by his nickname and as a barefooted umpire.

"Softball was his love," veteran local umpire Hide Yamashita said of his friend, whom he first met in the late 1930s. "He used to be a good pitcher."

Ray Kimura, who knew Inouye from leagues they were involved in, remembered him as a person always willing to help out. "He'd do whatever needed to be done for the leagues," Kimura said.

No one really knows how Inouye got his nickname, Yamashita said.

In July 1999, Inouye found himself in harm's way, his wife said.

The retired Meadow Gold truck driver was working part time as a deliveryman for Makiki Bakery in 1999. On the day of the American Savings Bank robbery in Kahala, one of the five fleeing gunmen — Albert Batalona — commandeered Inouye's van on the ramp off Hunakai Street while firing shots at a police officer. Inouye was not injured.

"He always felt thankful that the guy didn't hurt him," Hilda Inouye said.

In addition to his wife and son Jonathan, Inouye is survived by his other sons James and Paul; daughters Mary Anne Smith and Claire Inouye; and four grandchildren.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.