Deacon Walter Yoshimitsu in front of the St. Stephen Diocesan Center chapel. (HCH photo | Anna Weaver)
Long-time diocesan chancellor-plus retires from his many church roles
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
It takes three people to replace retiring Deacon Walter Yoshimitsu, a man with many roles over the years in the Diocese of Honolulu.
Deacon Keith Cabiles will take over the job of chancellor and archivist. Eva Andrade will become the executive director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference in addition to her same role with the Hawaii Family Forum. And Paulette Vernay will direct Respect Life ministry programs.
Over the years Deacon Yoshimitsu, 81, has been involved in a range of parish and diocesan volunteer and ministry work including as an assistant chaplain at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Kailua.
But it wasn’t until he retired from Campbell Estate in 2000 — his first retirement — that he started working for the diocese directly.
That same year he volunteered his services to Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo and eventually was hired as the new manager of diocesan services. His job was to oversee planning and building projects and implement Year 2000 diocesan synod top priorities, including youth ministry.
Eventually his role evolved and he became the diocese’s chancellor. In that curia position, he oversaw the diocesan archives, second collections, October Mass attendance counts and diocesan statistical reports to the United Stated Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican. He also acted as official notary for the diocese, served on the Bishop’s Administrative Advisory Council, the Diocesan Planning and Building Commission and other committees.
In addition Deacon Yoshimitsu organized Respect Life ministry work and oversaw prison ministry volunteer work in the diocese for many years, a passion that remains close to his heart.
“I think the area that I’ve always focused on has been with the poor and the homeless,” he said. “So any kind of satisfaction that I might have would be somehow in that area.
“And that kind of led me to prison [ministry]. I realize that many times what happens is that you have a revolving door. They come out and they try to find a job, and they can’t find a job. And so they come back to prison.”
He and Paulette Vernay started the annual “Star Light, Star Bright” Christmas party for incarcerated women and their children in part to help foster family connections despite prison separation.
Respected by legislators
Another role Deacon Yoshimitsu played during his time working for the Diocese of Honolulu has been as the executive director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference, which is the diocese’s legislative and public policy arm.
Eva Andrade has worked with Deacon Yoshimitsu since 2002 in her roles with the conference and with Hawaii Family Forum, a non-denominational partner organization. She said she feels prepared to step into Deacon Yoshimitsu’s role because of the mentorship he’s provided her over the years.
Andrade describes Yoshimitsu as having a “graciously tenacious spirit” and that she has never seen him riled up while doing public policy work, “even when opponents would accost him in the hallways of the legislature.”
After physician-assisted suicide legislation passed in Hawaii this year after years of opposition by the Catholic Church, Andrade said Deacon Yoshimitsu’s response was, “Ok, how do we move forward now?”
“Walter is a true statesman. He’s able to approach anybody regardless of the position they have on an issue,” she said. “Walter’s biggest strength was the relationships that he had with the legislators. They just trusted him.”
Msgr. Gary Secor, the vicar general of the Diocese of Honolulu, agreed. “He’s always been a compassionate and strong voice for our church’s teachings, especially in the public forum.”
In his formal letter to the deacon on his retirement, Bishop Larry Silva told the departing leader he’d been “a great blessing to us all.”
“Your constant representation of the diocese in matters of life, family, and the social challenges of our community has been exemplary. While your efforts have not always been successful, you still enjoy great respect among the legislators, and you never seem to lose hope that in the end truth, goodness and justice will prevail.”
Deacon Walter Yoshimitsu listens to Bishop Larry Silva reading farewell letter at St. Stephen Diocesan Center chapel. (HCH photo | Anna Weaver)
Getting and giving
Yoshimitsu, who was born and raised on Kauai, met his future wife, Frances, while he was studying for his bachelor’s degree in business administration at Cleveland State University. Frances was working as a nurse and the two connected through “ex-pat” Hawaii gatherings.
Although he wasn’t raised in a particular religion, Yoshimitsu found himself drawn to the Catholic Church thanks to the influence of his then-girlfriend Frances and several of his roommates who were Catholic. Yoshimitsu joined the church his senior year of college.
Walter and Frances married in 1962 and moved back to Oahu in 1967. They eventually had five children. Today there are five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
When he first moved back, Yoshimitsu worked as a sales manager for Olivetti, which led to a small recurring role on several episodes of the original “Hawaii Five-O” when the company loaned some of its equipment to the TV program, which wanted someone on camera to operate it.
He later became a development project manager for Blackfield Hawaii and a Campbell Estate property manager and administrator of government affairs and public relations for 25 years.
He and Frances were active in their parish, St. John Vianney in Kailua. He was the president of the school’s Parent Teachers Guild, involved in the Knights of Columbus and RCIA. The couple served on the Marriage Encounter team and did some Natural Family Planning volunteering.
The deacon formation director at the time, Father Bartholomew O’Leary, asked Yoshimitsu if he’d consider joining the second permanent diaconate formation class.
Walter wasn’t so sure about it, but his wife, Frances, was. “Yes, you’d make a good deacon,” she told him.
“Throughout my life I would guess that somehow God had a plan for me,” Yoshimitsu said. “I got so much from the Catholic Church, and I said [being a deacon] is a good way for me to give back to the Catholic Church.”
Deacon Yoshimitsu was ordained in 1984 and has served at St. John Vianney since.
His service has extended beyond the church, including being a board member for Kamaaina Kids and Pacific Health Ministry and serving on the state Commission on Fatherhood from 2012-2015.
In his second retirement he plans to stay involved in ministry to the poor, homeless and imprisoned. And he will continue to do the Communion service at the Women’s Correctional Facility.
“I am thankful for having been associated with the church for this length of time,” Deacon Yoshimitsu said.
