Donald K.L. Wong, retired chief special agent for the state Department of the Attorney General, died Saturday at The Queen's Medical Center. He was 61.

Wong's leadership attracted retired law enforcement officers to work for the state, a move that put experienced investigators in the field and improved the quality of work performed for the department.

"Donald was able through his great leadership skill ... to hire extraordinarily skilled law enforcement officers, many of whom had decades of experience with organizations like the Honolulu Police Department," state Attorney General Mark Bennett said.

With the added experience, Bennett said the state is able to do cases now it could not do before, such as cold-case investigations.

Wong, a Hilo native who moved back to the Big Island following his retirement in 2006, was a state investigator for 25 years. In 2005, he was named the Department of the Attorney General's manager of the year.

Wong, a Honolulu police officer from 1971 to 1977, was awarded the department's silver medal of valor for heroism in 1973.

He is a 1981 graduate of the University of Hawai'i and former owner and operator of Kim's Trucking Service.

Survivors include his wife, Barbara Jean, or "BJ"; daughters, Shannon M. Wong-Davis and Nicole N. Wong-Lunn; parents, Mona and Kenneth Wong; sister, Sharyn Eng; two grandsons, nieces and extended family.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Borthwick Hawai'i Funeral Home in Hilo. Visitation begins at 10 a.m. Internment will follow at Homelani Cemetery.

A memorial celebration of life will be held on Sept. 24 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Honolulu Elks Club.