Henry Ho Wong, 91, Castle family confidant
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Henry Ho Wong, a retired Kane'ohe Ranch Co. executive, confidant to the Harold Castle family and Hawai'i philanthropist, died Friday. He was 91.
"He was basically Harold Castle's right-hand man," said Gordon J. Mau, a longtime family friend and director of the Henry H. Wong Foundation. "He was extremely loyal, very persistent, very smart and an extremely hard worker who paid attention to detail."
Wong
Wong's connection with Kane'ohe Ranch and the Castle family began shortly after his graduation from St. Louis School for Boys in 1931. Harold Castle, one of the richest men in the Hawaiian Islands, hired Wong, the son of Deputy Sheriff Tong Wong and ali'i descendant Lucy Scott, to work in the office at his ranch.
Although he had first considered a career in law enforcement, Wong's duties at the ranch quickly expanded to include cattle drives and surveying the 15,000-acre Windward O'ahu ranch. In 1935 he was made ranch superintendent.
To make up for his lost dreams of being a cop, Castle gave Wong time off to join a reserve component of the police department. In November 1941, Wong was sworn in as a reserve patrol officer. On Dec. 7, 1941, he was manning a roadblock in Kane'ohe, and fired a service revolver at a low-flying Japanese plane. Twenty years later, during the administration of Mayor Neal Blaisdell, he would be named to the Police Commission.
In 1946 Wong, sponsored by golfing partner and future governor John A. Burns, became the first person of Asian descent to become a member of the Mid-Pac Country Club, which in turn became the first privately owned golf club in the Islands to admit people of Asian ancestry.
As the 1940s ended, Wong's days in the saddle also lapsed as Castle promoted him to executive-level duties at Kane'ohe Ranch Co., shifting his focus from cattle to leasehold property management and commercial development in Kailua. Wong became vice president and director of the company in 1951.
In 1954, taking note of his desire to further his education, the Castle family arranged for Wong to attend the Harvard Business School of Advanced Management, offered at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
Castle died in 1967, naming Wong co-executor of his estate and trustee for several Castle family trusts. In gratitude for a lifetime of service, he also left Wong a substantial sum of money.
In 1981, Wong retired from Kane'ohe Ranch after 50 years with the company. He spent his later years in community service, and became a philanthropist in his own right, making generous contributions to the Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i, Castle Hospital, St. Louis School, St. Francis School for Girls and other institutions.
In 1991, he established the Henry H. Wong Foundation, which benefits women and children in need of basic services.
Wong is survived by his wife, Colene Smith Wong; sons Henry L.L. "Heine" Wong, Gordon M.K. Wong and Ross K. Wong; daughters Lucy Ann "Tidi" Awai and Veronica "Ronnie" Davis; 18 grandchildren; 56 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.
Services are pending and will be announced later this week. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to agencies supported by the Wong Foundation: the Institute for Human Services, the Kalihi YMCA, the Palama Settlement, Hawai'i Foodbank and the Mary Jane Program.
Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
