Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021

Nathan Serota: (808) 768-3046

Ceremony marks official renaming of Āliamanu Neighborhood Park in honor of Connie Chun

(From left to right) Nathan Serota, Ryan Tam, and Councilmember Radiant Cordero unveiled the new signage at the Connie Chun Āliamanu Neighborhood Park. Connie Chun photo courtesy Chun ‘Ohana 

O‘AHU – It was a beautiful day in Salt Lake, as the ‘ohana of the late State Representative and pioneering Filipina nurse, Connie Chun, and City Councilmember Radiant Cordero joined staff from the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation for the official renaming ceremony of the Connie Chun Āliamanu Neighborhood Park.

To mark the occasion, Chun’s family was provided a certificate and the new park signage was unveiled in the small ceremony. Representing the family at the ceremony was Ryan Tam, Connie’s nephew and Neighborhood Board #11 Chairperson.

Connie was a pioneering nurse, legal scholar, Hawai‘i State Representative, and matriarch. An immigrant from Mindanao, Connie was the first Filipina registered nurse to graduate from Loma Linda University in California (attending on a Fulbright Scholarship). She was both the first Filipina and nurse elected to the Hawai‘i House of Representatives, serving from 1980 – 1984. As an elected official, she championed a bill establishing the Nursing Home Without Walls Program, which provides comprehensive, at-home nursing for chronically ill or disabled patients.

A well-known Foster Village resident, she competed in marathons with her prominent cardiologist husband H.H. “Hunky” Chun. She passed away a year ago at the wise age of 92, leaving behind a lasting legacy for generations to come.

The renaming of the park was in accordance with City Council Resolution 12-29, introduced by Councilmember Cordero.  

If you need an auxiliary aid/service, other accommodations due to a disability, or an interpreter for a language other than English in reference to this announcement, please contact the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation at (808) 768-3003 on weekdays from 7:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. or email parks@honolulu.gov

—PAU—

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