Patsy Young
Patsy Young, who served in both the Hawaii state House and Senate between 1971 and 1988, died on April 3. She was 92.
Young was the first Asian American woman appointed to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, according to biographical information provided by the Hawaii United Okinawa Association.
Her parents emigrated from Okinawa, and they moved the family to Honolulu in 1941. Young began her legislative career in the House in 1971 and moved to the state Senate in 1974 as the Senate Majority Policy Leader. During her time in the Legislature, she helped pass a law that enabled individuals with a Hawaiian blood quantum of 25% to inherit Hawaiian Homelands leases from certain closely related relatives.