Memories (by Pono Nako, Grandson)

In life, many people spend their lives wading through the darkness and shadows anxiously searching for one small glimmer of light. Few of which successfully find such light. Gabriel Manning, born April 24, 1916 in Hilo, Hawai`i, spent his days dashing through life filled with light—a light that could brighten even the darkest and most grim day of one and all.


There is only one deserving word that provides the requisite respect, honor and dignity essential to truly knowing whom Grandpa was. That word is ALOHA—the name by which he was affectionately called by his father. For each of us that have been enriched by the ALOHA Grandpa shared, this is truly who he was and continues to be today.


As a young man, Grandpa was an accomplished athlete who took intricate care of his body that afforded him his longevity. “Never smoked, never drank” that is always what he said. For me, Grandpa always said, “EH, TUNDA, you better start working out and losing weight.” The problem was, every time he visited, he and Grandma were putting Portuguese sausage, pasteles, cod fish, laulau in front of me. My only response was, what’s a local boy to do?


Grandpa’s childhood was filled with adventure. He always made sure to remind us kids how cushy our lives are today. Hard work, before and after school, sandwiched his days. As a young child, I remember grandpa making us pick up all the avocado leaves and each time we grumbled he would say, in his special way, nodding his head, pointing his finger, “You know, my father would not stand for that, and I had to pick up each leaf in this yard every morning and afternoon all by myself.” Grandpa really took pride in the hard, rough lifestyle he was raised in. In August, at our family reunion, Grandpa and his sister Ethel had a friendly argument; in a way that only siblings can, of how hard they had to work. Grandpa said the younger sisters did nothing; Aunty said Grandpa just frightened all the girls.


The Sunday football story is a family legend. While getting ready to attend church with the family, the neighborhood boys hurriedly informed Grandpa the rival team had challenged them to a game. Being the fiercely competitive athlete he was, Grandpa did not hesitate to make the right decision—he went and played football—in his nice Sunday clothes. They won, but after the game he came home with dirty clothes, his father provided him with on of his greatest defeats—lickens. Grandpa said, “HUU, DA SOA!” “Couldn’t sit down, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t do nothing.”


The infamous story of his youth involves being a central member of the kid crew rowing team whose regimental training program resulted in what he called a historic defeat of the senior crew.


In 1935, Grandpa graduated as a proud Viking from Hilo High School. Grandpa and his classmates were all very good friends. As they became older and wiser, they made it a point to have yearly class reunions. This year, Grandpa was chosen of the 6 living classmates to be the class President. He organized this year’s reunion and they celebrated their 73rd class reunion @ Hilo Hawaiian. They were all very honored when the TV show, Seniors in Paradise, came to film their reunion.

Upon graduation, Grandpa faced the harsh realities of the Great Depression. However, in a way that once again shows his true colors, Grandpa found light where others could not. He was privileged to serve two years in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps. He loved the life and got to traverse up, down and all around of Mauna Kea. Not only did he make money, he was able to send money home to his family.


On November 16, 1940, Grandpa married his sweetheart Virginia Martins of Papa`ikou. In 1939, Grandpa first met Grandma through her niece, who Grandpa had casually dated. Grandpa was supposed to pick Grandma up at Cress store to go to a dance following the local boxing matches. When he arrived, the woman at the store told Grandpa she had seen Grandma waiting and that he better start being on time. Grandma then through a bombshell at Grandpa, she said, “you know, if you want to date me, you better come to my house and pick me up,” Grandpa said, “I was so surprised, that was the first time any girl talk to me like that. I was so surprised. Grandma was different than all the other girls and that is why he loved her so much. Grandma said he always smelt so good and that’s what made him the best.


Grandpa and Grandma were blessed with three children: Theron, Barbara and Gaylene. They have 16 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. Grandpa loved to watch his grandchildren run and play. Most of all, he loved to share stories about the good ‘ole days. Each time we heard the same story retold, we would all try to see who could finish Grandpa’s story for him. Our experiences with Grandma and Grandpa are not complete without describing their visits. Theron wrote, when Grandpa and Grandma came, the first thing we looked for was the red or green ice chests because that meant food. Homemade sweetbread, malasadas, bangers, baked aku, `ulu, Portuguese and blood sausage, opihi, laulau, macadamia nuts, and the famous red ball coconut candy, just to name a few. Grandma would cook and clean daily, it was like having a personal maid. Best of all, Grandpa would bring home a big gallon of chocolate milk, which was a treat for us.


Grandpa was a self-taught, hard-working man. He was a man of many trades who could fix anything. He worked for many years as a crane operator for Hilo Iron Works. Grandpa was a voice of influence in community and civic matters. Normally an easy-going man, when it came to politics, Grandpa would vigorously not back down from anyone. He was very proud of the associations he had with many local, state and federal elected officials. Even through the long campaigns this year, Grandpa was never shy about expressing his political opinion. The funny part is that he would connect today’s politicians to yesterday’s issues. Regardless of what you said, you weren’t going to win.


Aside from family, Grandpa’s most treasured memory came April 1st, 1946. As the initial waves were about to hit, Grandpa scurried up to safety atop the crane along with his boss, Alan Aruda, and his friend Bill Ayala. All they could do was watch helplessly as three massive tidal waves washed up and sucked back into the ocean, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. As the third wave of the set receded, Grandpa and his friends descended and ran inland. Bill and Grandpa headed for Shinmachi to help the people crying for help. Grandpa and Bill met up with another friend, Toma Tosaki. They ran to a frightened young pregnant woman, gripping a baby girl in one arm and a suitcase the other. She was frozen with terror, unable to move. Bill took the suitcase, Toma seized the woman and Grandpa grabbed the baby. They all started running when someone yelled that another set of waves was coming. Grandpa headed for Piopio Street, running for his life, the baby girl laughing sweetly in his arms. He cut through a damaged house only to discover a refrigerator blocked the back doorway. Grandpa backed up and jumped over the refrigerator. As athletic as he was, he does not know how he cleared the height of the refrigerator or managed to squeeze through the narrow clearance under the doorway. When he reached the Dairymen’s Association, the tsunami wave caught him but he was able to stay on his feet. Grandpa and his friends hurriedly located each other. The woman was reunited with her baby and Grandpa and his friend Bill spent the entire day helping others in need. For 60 years, Grandpa often wondered who that girl was, what was her name and, what did she become. Through a true miracle, in 2006, Grandpa was able to finally meet Lorraine, the girl he had helped 60 years ago. Lorraine is here today, and we want to tell her how truly grateful we are for giving our family such a great memory from which many of us have often found strength. The intense feelings of honor and gratitude that Grandpa felt for being able to perform such service has truly made us proud to be part of his family.


Grandpa was indeed proud of the many years he spent as a primary teacher, high councilor, bishop’s counselor and until very recently at the age of 92, assistant to the stake executive secretary. Grandpa treasured most the time he spent in scouting. For decades grandpa was involved in both cub and boy scouts. He loved working with the young men and helping them to develop not only survival and life skills, but also characteristics that would make them great men and superlative fathers. Grandpa knew that who you are, was more important than anything you could obtain.


Ultimately, Grandpa’s legacy is epitomized in his love for and faith in God and Jesus Christ. Grandpa was so fond of saying, “Stay Close to the Lord.” If you have ever seen Grandpa pray, you always felt that the Lord was very near. In all things, Grandpa always turned first to the Lord. Even through his greatest struggle, his last, he made sure to daily tell the Lord how he felt, why he loved him and what he was in need of. Most of all, Grandpa would always petition the Lord on behalf of others. His intense love and concern for others, often times overrode his personal welfare.


Grandpa’s final penned words were, “We want you to love one another, and we want you to keep in touch with one another at all times. We want you to help one another always. We love you all and we did the best we could for all of you. God bless you all and guide you all in the paths of righteousness until we meet again.


"Love is one of the chief characteristics of [God], and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons of God. A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race. This indeed was Grandpa’s feeling, and caused him to forego the pleasures of home, that he might be a blessing to others…and for so doing, I pray that heaven's choicest blessings may rest upon him."


Grandpa is to me—a man of faith who lived what he believes and enriched the lives of all those he interacted with. So, in your honor Grandpa, we pay you tribute and say we love you. We hope to some day be half as great as you who you are.