“No history, no self. Know history, know self.”

Date: November 2023

By: Emy Tagama Keola

Dennis Irie is the grandson of Japanese immigrants and was a 3rd generation resident of Ewa Plantation. Like many of us who grew up in Ewa, we have very fond memories of this special place we called home.

Irie spent years gathering and compiling pictures and oral histories from friends who also grew up in Ewa. His book, Cane Tassels, Work Whistles, and Labor Day Carnivals – Memories of Ewa Plantation Town in the Mid-1900s captures these memories in hopes of sharing it with future generations.

Now a retired architect who resides in Honolulu with his wife Patsy, Irie continues to give back to the community, especially to his beloved childhood town of Ewa.

He has shared his “Ewa stories” to the faculty at Ewa Elementary and the general public at the Japanese Cultural Center together with former Ewa residents Milton Oshiro and Carolyn Uesugi. He also engaged those in attendance at a recent “Talk Story” session sponsored by Kapolei Public Library and the Ewa Villages Historical Society.

A full circle moment, Irie’s love for Ewa can be seen in his beautifully designed administration and library building at Ewa Elementary School, his alma mater. Part of the project included moving the Abraham Lincoln statue onto a raised entry plaza for the new building.

To pay homage to the 10 men from Ewa who lost their lives in Europe during World War II, the building also includes a landscaped courtyard that contains the bronze plaque that once hung on the front wall of the Ewa Bowling Alley…a site that many of us who grew up in Ewa have many fond memories of.

Emy Tagama Keola was born and raised in Ewa. She grew up in Fernandez Village.

Read more about this Talk Story presentation here