Mourners walk past the casket of Msgr. Alan Nagai at his funeral July 16 in Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Pearl City. (HCH photo | Patrick Downes)
The advantage of having a priest for an uncle, Jamie Psak said, was that everything got blessed. Cars, boats, homes, kids, pets.
The holy water was always available, she said, as long as you kept adding water to the original supply. You can’t dilute water. Her Uncle Al told her that.
Psak’s Uncle Al was Msgr. Alan Nagai. She remembered him with an affectionate string of anecdotes and observations told to a packed Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Pearl City at his funeral the morning of July 16.
“Uncle Al was our spiritual leader,” she said in her eulogy. “Whenever he was around, we felt safe.”
Msgr. Alan A. Nagai was a priest in Hawaii for 56 years, working in parishes and in diocesan positions. He died June 18 in Honolulu at age 81. One of the 10 or so churches he served as pastor was Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Many of Psak’s memories were of an uncle who liked to tell stories and jokes, host Superbowl parties, and who could whip up a mean pot of stew.
It was family and faith that brought him happiness, she said.
“He loved being a priest, he loved being a Catholic, he loved his family,” said Psak. “We will miss him.”
Bishop Larry Silva celebrated his funeral liturgy which was concelebrated by more than 20 priests.
Msgr. Terrence Watanabe, delivering the homily, remembered his brother priest as a role model and man of faith.
“We cannot repay your family for the gift that he was to us,” Msgr. Watanabe said directly to Msgr. Nagai’s family.
Msgr. Watanabe was still freshly ordained when he was assigned in 1978 to serve with Msgr. Nagai, then pastor of the Pearl City parish.
“I was 27,” he said, “and 125 pounds.”
“He turned out to be a wonderful role model for my ministry,” Msgr. Watanabe said.
“He truly understood serving the Lord and spreading the Gospel,” he said. “He was a man of faith, a true steward of all God entrusted to his care.”
In fact, stewardship was one of his “favorite subjects,” the priest said. “As a way of life, he embraced it.”
“He was a humble man with simple tastes,” Msgr. Watanabe said, a “faithful pastor,” an “excellent thinker.”
“He had tremendous compassion for the most vulnerable among us,” he said.
He may have relished a good game of poker, the monsignor said, but he “gave all his poker winnings to charity.”
“Father Alan was a faith-filled and faithful person,” Msgr. Watanabe said.
