MEDIA RELEASE

In observance of the memory of former state Rep. Lisa Naito, Gov. Neil Abercrombie has ordered all U.S. and Hawaii flags at all State offices and agencies as well as the Hawaii National Guard are to be flown at half-staff from sunrise until sunset on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011.

“When Lisa entered a room, she made it brighter. She was always encouraging, and she had a deep sense of aloha for everyone,” Abercrombie said. “Lisa was the epitome of the public servant. Her empathy for the trials and tribulations of those she served set a standard.”

Naito, who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., was a newspaper correspondent in Paris and jazz singer with a band called the New Yorkers before arriving in Hawaii in 1964 aboard a yacht that was sailing around the world.

She was elected state representative of the Kaimuki-Kapahulu district in 1974 and re-elected in 1976.

She later worked as a state social worker and was involved with several community organizations, including the Hawaii Death with Dignity Society.