Remembering Frank Fasi

A memorial for former Mayor Frank Fasi will be held at Honolulu Hale today, at 10 a.m.  KITV had a nice spot on Fasi this morning, available here, which focused more on Fasi’s family life as the father of 11 children.

HONOLULU Magazine’s last major story on Fasi was "Old School," Aug. 2007, written by Fasi’s former director of the Office of Information and Complaint, Jim Loomis. You can read that here.

 We’ll have another personal remembrance of Fasi in our April issue. Today, we offer our condolences to the Fasi family.

Fasi served as mayor for six terms, from 1968 to 1980, then 1984 to 1994. Now, I was born in 1968 and didn’t  start covering local politics closely until I joined the magazine in late 1994, so, for much of my life, Frank Fasi was simply one of those larger-than-life local personalities you’d hear about, see on TV, read about in the papers. He was one of those remote Grown Ups who were In Charge of Things. But no doubt about it, that was the singular quality I most remember about Fasi—in charge, confidently, absolutely.

(One curious note—the city and county of Honolulu Web site doesn’t seem to have any information on today’s memorial service, only a link to a tribute given last week by current Mayor Mufi Hannemann, which can be viewed here at The Honolulu Advertiser’s site. There are actually more details about Fasi’s service in his obituary here, also at The Honolulu Advertiser. Granted the service at Honolulu Hale isn’t an official city function, but still, some basic facts and parking details would be helpful!)