Big Island native Patsy Sumie Saiki, who beat cancer at age 35 and went on to become an award-winning author, educator, volunteer and philanthropist, died Dec. 2 at Straub Clinic & Hospital. She was 90.

"She attributed the remission of her cancer to the work of God and made the most of her life after being healed, doing incredible things," said Paul Nagano of Alhambra, Calif., who first met Saiki in 1950 while she was in the hospital and he was the English-speaking pastor at Makiki Christian Church. "She is witness of someone who lived life fully to its full potential."

Saiki wrote five books, including "Sachie: A Daughter of Hawaii" and "Ganbare: An Example of Japanese Spirit."

Her many honors include The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Apricot, from the government of Japan in 1996 for perpetuating Japanese culture and fostering good will between the U.S. and Japan; 1981 Jefferson Award and 1992 University of Hawai'i Alumni Association distinguished service award .

In 1999, Saiki endowed the UH English department to establish an award in her name for fiction writing. A writing contest is held annually with cash prizes for the best short story set in Hawai'i.

"She had a zest for life, traveled all around the world and did everything possible in life with no regrets," former state representative Ken Hiraki said of his grandmother, who had mentioned to him this year she felt "I still had two more books in me."

While celebrating her birthday in March, Hiraki said, Saiki told him, "The good thing about reaching 90 is that you don't have to worry much about peer pressure."

Mae Kuboyama, the eldest of Saiki's four children, recalled that her mother traveled to Disneyland and San Diego Zoo and Sea World in October with her granddaughter and a great-grandchild "so that she could see what it was like to be a kid through their eyes."

"I think she was a woman ahead of her time," Kuboyama said. "She had to leave (McKinley High School) at age 16 in her senior year to go back to the Big Island to care for her mother. She got married and had four children before she went back to school."

It took Saiki only three years to earn her degree in education from the University of Hawai'i in 1954. During her first year at UH in 1954, Kuboyama took some classes with her mother, who gained prominence as the first student at UH to win the Charles Eugene Banks creative writing contest for two straight years (1952 and 1953).

Saiki went on to earn her master's degree in education from UH in 1959 and her doctorate from Columbia University in New York in 1967. She earned a Wall Street Journal summer fellowship to the University of Wisconsin in 1960. The following year, the Wall Street Journal honored her as one of the top journalism teachers in the U.S.

From 1955 to 1959, Saiki taught journalism and English at what is now known as Stevenson Middle School. She was a journalism instructor at McKinley in 1960. She went on to become a Department on Education program specialist and administrator before retiring in 1975.

"She was very active, her mind was amazing," said Kathleen Kiyuna, Saiki's second eldest child. "She was still taking care of the family's rental business. She was proud of her family, especially that all her children went to college."

It was through her husband, Kiyoto, who died in April 1995, that Saiki became involved in community service. Kiyoto Saiki is also an Order of the Sacred Treasure honoree by Japan.

While serving as research chair of the Japanese-American Citizens League from 1979 to 1981, Patsy Saiki interviewed more than 100 internees or their immediate family members. She compiled the research into her book, "Ganbare: An Example of Japanese Spirit," published in 1981.

Saiki was also involved with the Japanese Women's Society, the commission commemorating the arrival of the first Japanese laborers to Hawai'i in 1985.

A service will be held Monday at Hosoi Garden Mortuary at 5:30 p.m. with Nagano presiding.

In addition to Kuboyama and Kiyuna, Saiki is survived by sons Ken and Dennis, seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.