Posted on: Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Diplomat Trinidad Q. Alconcel dead at 89

Associated Press

Trinidad Q. Alconcel, former Philippine consul general in Honolulu who later served as the country's ambassador to Argentina, has died. He was 89.

Alconcel died Thursday at his home in Honolulu, the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu said in a news release.

"Alconcel is well loved by the Filipino community in the state of Hawai'i for his various efforts to promote greater rapport among community members," the consulate said.

Born in Caoayan, Ilocos Sur, Alconcel graduated cum laude and salutatorian from the University of Manila.

He joined the Philippine foreign service in the 1940s and served with the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1947 to 1956. He was a senior assistant, then chief of division in the department.

He was assigned to Honolulu in 1966 with the rank of career minister and consul general. After being promoted to chief of mission in 1972 he was transferred to San Francisco the following year.

Alconcel returned to Hawai'i in 1976 after his wife, Soledad, was diagnosed with cancer.

Known for introducing "innovative measures that benefited and gained recognition for the foreign consuls in Hawai'i," Alconcel twice was elected dean of the consular corps — in 1971 and 1980 — the consulate said.