Patsy Mink Remembered at Two-Hour Memorial in Hawai‘i

By Bruce Dunford
The Associated Press

To the sound of a conch shell and a traditional Hawaiian chant, U.S. Rep. Patsy Takemoto Mink was remembered Friday for her sincerity, integrity and tenacity in fighting for her strong liberal beliefs.

About 1,500 people gathered in the rotunda of the state Capitol for the funeral of the petite, energy-packed Democratic lawmaker known throughout the islands and the nation’s capital simply as “Patsy.” She had been the first woman of color to serve in Congress.

U.S. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, right, prays along with Hawai‘i’s Governor Ben Cayetano in front of a portrait of Mink during her memorial service. About 25 members of Congress attended the memorial service.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, the only Democrat in President Bush’s Cabinet, was one of 14 speakers at the nondenominational services.

Representing Bush, Mineta read a letter of condolences from the president to Mink’s husband, John.

“We know what a difficult time this is for you and we extend our heartfelt sympathy,” Bush wrote. “Patsy was a dedicated public servant who represented Hawai‘i and our country with honor and dignity. Our nation is grateful for her record of service.”

Mink “was born into a nation that thought an American of Japanese ancestry was a contradiction in terms,” Mineta said. “She was born into a nation that far too often barred women not only from achieving their dreams but even from the right to try.”

She was denied entry into a dozen medical schools because of her gender and discouraged as a lawyer and elected official because of her gender and her ancestry, he said.

“If many Americans today do not remember the kind of discrimination that Patsy faced in her life, it is because she dedicated her life to removing it,” Mineta said.

U.S. House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., led the congressional delegation, which flew in during the night and left before Mink’s burial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. She earned the right to be buried there because her husband is a veteran.

“She was an unabashed, unapologetic, proud, liberal Democrat,” Gephardt said, calling her “an amazing woman.”

“At a time when politics is cautious and careful and filled with sound bits and TV ads, Patsy was the genuine article. She knew what she believed and she said what she believed, no matter what the political fallout,” Gephardt said.

Hundreds of people gather to pay their last respects to Mink, who died Sept. 28 at age 74 from viral pneumonia.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai‘i, remembered Mink as one who could not tolerate the abuse and abandonment of children and wives, discrimination, hatred or prejudice.

Gov. Ben Cayetano, the nation’s first governor of Filipino ancestry, said Mink “helped open the door of opportunity and equal treatment not only for women but for all minorities and disadvantaged as well.”

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., called Mink “a leader and one of the finest and most respected policy-makers that ever served in the Congress.”

“She helped to forge the fight for pay equity, and freedom of choice and develop all the important strategies that were moving women forward in this country,” she said.

Former Hawai‘i Democratic Party Chairman Richard Port, who presided over the services, said it was not just the length of Mink’s service or the range of positions that marked Mink’s life.

“It is her achievements on our behalf and the honesty and integrity and conscientiousness that she brought to her service that calls us and compels us to be present today,” Port said.

The services ended with U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai‘i, singing “Hawai‘i Aloha” as mourners, friends and strangers alike, joined hands and swayed to the music.

The burial at Punchbowl was limited to Mink’s family and closest friends.