Windward YMCA Tai Chi member
Big Island boy Clarence Surigao was a civilian contractor for the United States military in the Marshall Islands. He witnessed several nuclear explosions during testing at Bikini Atoll. He said that one atmospheric explosion was even visible from Oahu!
Fortunately, he met his wife and left the nuclear testing area. His second career with the State of Hawaii lasted 23 years. He retired as Operations Superintendent from the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment division.
Clarence has done all manner of work. "I like to keep busy," he said. But doing odd jobs around the house and tending his papaya trees wasn’t enough. And his wife won’t let him repaint the house, so he found tai chi. Or did it find him?
One day, more than four years ago, Clarence sat in ukulele class at the Kailua Rec Center, feeling the groove, when he looked over and noticed a tai chi class. Oh, he thought, that looks interesting. It led him to join the Windward YMCA and now he is part of our tai chi ohana.
Why did he choose the YMCA tai chi class instead of the one at the Rec Center? "I like how Kelvin explains the moves," he said.
Clarence’s ohana includes five grandkids and two great grandkids. His own two kids are only a holler away, across the street.
[As a Saint Louis grad himself, Kelvin noticed that Clarence seems to always wear a Saint Louis Crusaders shirt to tai chi class.]
By Wendi Lau