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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, June 23, 2008

Baptiste timeline

 •  Baptiste remembered as 'man of heart'
 •  For him, it was 'always ... community first'
 •  Baptiste remembered

Oct. 15, 1955: Bryan Baptiste is born in Lihu'e, Kaua'i.

November 1996: Baptiste, manager of the Kaua'i War Memorial Convention Hall and head of an islandwide park beautification program, is elected to Kaua'i County Council.

2002: Baptiste, a Republican, is elected as mayor, edging out rival Ron Kouchi in a runoff.

2005: Baptiste proposes to ban gated communities on Kaua'i, saying "It creates an 'us and them' mentality." The measure stalls because of legal questions.

Sept. 27, 2006: Baptiste declared winner in his re-election bid, avoiding a runoff by two votes. Baptiste got 8,173 votes, runner-up Jesse Fukushima 4,725 and other candidates 3,444. Baptiste had two more than half the votes cast for all candidates. "We had one vote more than we needed to win. That's the cushion," Baptiste said.

June 13: Baptiste undergoes heart bypass surgery in Honolulu. The surgery was scheduled after routine medical testing June 9, said Mary Daubert, Kaua'i public information officer.

Yesterday: Baptiste died at 4:30 p.m. at Kaua'i's Wilcox Memorial Hospital. He was 52.