A Celebration of Ah Quon McElrath, Part 4

Note:  This is part of my Weekly Wednesday AQ Wisdom special series.  To see other posts in the series, click on the Best Bets tab at the top of any page here and scroll down to the “AQ McElrath” section.

Part Four:  AQ on the Board of Regents and Beyond

Ah Quon’s passion for most of her life was ensuring quality health care for everyone.

Ah Quon’s passion for most of her life was ensuring quality health care for everyone.  She helped to develop and promote Kaiser Permanente and the HMO model in Hawaii.  She was instrumental in having dental benefits provided to the children of longshore workers, leading to the establishment of Hawaii Dental Service.  In the last years of her life, Ah Quon worked tirelessly to convince lawmakers, union leaders and community activits about the absolute need for universal health care in Hawaii and the nation. 

In 1995, Ah Quon was appointed to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents and served until 2003.  She brought a unique perspective to the governing body of the UH system as a strong and passionate advocate for students and faculty.  She served as the chair of the Regents’ Academic Affairs Committee and the Committee on Student Affairs.

Ah Quon continued to educate ILWU members – both in Hawaii and on the Mainland – about the union’s progressive history and the need for union members to work for peace and justice.  She was a featured speaker at a number of ILWU conventions, pensioner converences, LEAD Institutes for the ILWU on the West Coast, and ILWU Labor Institutes in Hawaii.

Ah Quon received recognition from numerous organizations, not only in Hawaii but nationally, for her lifetime work in advancing the cause of working people, the poor, the elderly, and the disadvantaged.  These groups include the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Na Loio, YWCA of Hawaii, University of Hawaii School of Social Work, Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs, Hawaii People’s Fund, and many others.

Ah Quon touched the lvies of thousands of Hawaii’s people and passed away with dignity on December 11, 2008, just a few days short of her 93rd birthday.  She is survived by a daughter Gail, a son Brett, two grandchildren, one great-granddaughter, a brother, and a sister.

This concludes the story of AQ’s life.  However, this series continues as I share excerpts from AQ’s speeches and tributes to her that paint vignettes of her passion at work.  And I do want to apologize to any of you who were surprised to not see a post last week Wednesday, or yesterday for that matter.  But I’m sure AQ would understand why she was pre-empted yesterday.  Going forward, AQ posts should be up on Wednesdays.

Mahalo!

Tagged as: ah quon, aq mcelrath, Hawaii, hawaii dental service, ilwu, mcelrath