In Memory of Art Mori

REMEMBRANCE

It was a dark, damp day in New Haven when my dear friend died, March 27, 2026, seven days before Good Friday.

My righteous and nonconformist friend majored in chemical engineering at Yale. Our classmates wanting to be lawyers majored in English or History; those wanting to be doctors majored in pre-med. No one wanted to be an engineer. He had the courage to do what he wanted to do. He might have wanted to be associated with the famous Sheffield Scientific School, founded in 1856 by Benjamin Silliman, which was one of the first and best before it was allowed to languish by liberal arts authority and was merged with the university curriculum in 1956. Art was from San Francisco and perhaps knew what other classmates and the Yale administrators did not know: that Caltech and the Stanford School of Engineering were on the cutting edge of the fabulous, electronic world of the late 20th Century. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry and spent 30 years as a Professor of Chemistry at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

After graduation he traveled a good deal and at a youth hostel in Lettermullen, in the west of Ireland, he met a beautiful German lady, named Waltraut Gengenbach (Val), who was training to become a nurse in Liverpool. He fell in love with her and chased her all over Europe, until she agreed to marry him. They settled in Honolulu and raised a family of three children, an ocean away from his hometown and an ocean and a continent away from Val’s hometown. He was happily married for 65 years, describing Val as “wonderful,” as “a true saint” who supported him when he studied for an advanced degree and had shielded him from sybarite tangents. She also comforted him as he suffered in his final years.

After they were married, they went to Nigeria, where he taught in a secondary school, comparable to an American junior college, and where Val was both a nurse and a secretary. He was impressed with the quality of the education and the importance of it to the students. One of the highlights of their sojourn was meeting Boniface Agbo, a poor dirt farmer, who spoke English poorly, and had no birth certificate or ID and was a member of the constantly massacred Igbo tribe. Boniface was hired by Val and Art as a handy man and was very helpful to them. They became great friends. Over the years Art sent him money to help educate his children and to buy a wife, a common practice in his culture. Many years later a son, on business in Honolulu, paid them a visit. He was the chief financial officer of a prominent Nigerian University and reported that Art’s financial help had contributed to his, his brother’s, and his sister’s college education. Art was convinced that everyone should spend a year of two in a different culture to question one’s own values on “culture,” “civilization, and “race.” For example, Art cherished the beauty of the ancient bronze lie heads, which were unknown to the museums in Europe and in America. JFK, he said, sent the Peace Corps to Nigeria; he denounced Trump for showering it with bombs.

I vividly remember two comments he made when he and I were students at Yale. I joined WYBC, the undergraduate radio station, and was assigned to broadcast a varsity baseball game between Yale and another college. I sought to mimic Red Barber, the famous announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and carefully prepared a card for each player on both teams with important information: name, number, position, batting average, etc. The first few innings proceeded with a few pop flies and strikeouts. In the fifth inning, however, a gust of wind blew all my cards off counter and, while I was picking them up and sorting them, two runs had scored. I tried to describe an imaginary inning but failed. Later, I met Art, one of the few who tuned in, who wisely said: “Your broadcasting days are over.” And they were. Sometime later, when we were having supper together, I told him I was not looking forward to going home for the weekend and, since my mother was not a good cook, I liked the college cooking better. He was astonished and said: “You like this terrible food? This is the worse crap I have ever eaten.” He added a few choice expletives. I learned later his mother was a gourmet cook. Art had the admirable quality of always speaking what was on his mind.

Farewell, dear man, and may the dear Lord have mercy on your soul.

William H. H. Rees, April 7, 2026

OBITUARY

Honolulu – It is with extreme sadness that we mourn the passing of Life of the Land’s longest-serving Board member, Art Mori, who served from 1981-2026.

Art Mori was a true Renaissance Man. He was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1956. Following brief careers in law school, engineering, the U.S. Army, and secondary school teaching in Nigeria, he completed a professional diploma in secondary education at the University of California at Berkeley in 1966. After two more years of high school teaching, he returned to graduate school and completed a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1971. Dr. Mori taught at Chaminade from 1971 until his retirement in 2000 and then continued teaching students for another two more decades.

He worked with the Montessori Program for over 20 years, where he conducted yearly summer field trips and taught geology to Montessori students.

Art believed that the voice of the people was of utmost importance. His service on Life of the Land’s board and his love for Hawai`i Nei always included raising the issues of community involvement in development, preservation, cultural and civil rights issues. He never forgot that Hawai`i belongs to the Kanaka Maoli, the indigenous people cared for the land before western contact.

Art Mori is frequently highlighted in academic records for his dedication to student success and creative science education. Beyond the university, he has been a supporter of the broader Hawaiian scientific community, appearing in records for the Hawai’i Academy of Science to support local STEM initiatives like the Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair.

On September 16, 1982, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported on Life of the Land`s lawsuit. “Art Mori, Life of the Land president, told reporters that state officials have violated the plaintiffs’ civil rights by `intentionally refusing or failing to enforce` federal regulator law calling for a `zero tolerance level` of heptachlor in Hawaii`s milk and milk products.”

The Hawaii Heptachlor Research & Education Foundation was incorporated as a Hawaii nonprofit in May 1987. Art Mori served on the Foundation board of directors. The Foundation was funded directly from court settlement proceeds from lawsuits against Foremost and Meadow Gold dairies, which were responsible for contaminating Hawaii’s milk supply with heptachlor — a highly toxic chlorinated pesticide — during the 1980s.

On February 25, 1987, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported that Art Mori, Life of the Land president, raised concerns about sulfur dioxide pollution from the proposed HPOWER facility. The city, allowed by the state, is proposing not to use the best available control technology.

On April 17, 1990, Honolulu Star-Bulletin article, page 1, quoted Life of the Land board member Art Mori, “With the number of endangered species we have and the number of endemic plants and animals we have, we should have an environmental wall built around the state.”

He was recognized by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 2, 2001. At a demonstration at Hanauma Bay, the paper named him among the activists: “Kyle Kajihiro, Art Mori, Roy Benham, and Dave Washino were among the protesters yesterday”.

On April 3, 2003, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, quoted Dr. Mori as one of the science academy judges in a piece on Hawaii’s Student Science Academy: “I’ve been coming down for years, and they’re getting better each year. It’s very impressive.” This captures his dual role — not only as an advocate, but a champion for students, cultivating the next generation of scientific minds in Hawaii.

On January 2008 Ka Wai Ola (OHA Newsletter) wrote, “Art Mori of OHA’s Economic Development Hale… believed that Akana’s vision of a land base for Keiki O Ka ʻĀina…”. This acknowledges that his civic engagement extended beyond Life of the Land into Hawaii’s broader indigenous economic development sphere.

He worked with the Montessori Program for over 20 years, where he conducted yearly summer field trips and taught geology to Montessori students.

For many years he was active in the Special Olympics and cheered for the athletes.

Life of the Land has been honored to work closely with Dr. Mori. “You don’t meet many people who actually live their values. Art did – every day of his life. His legacy will live on forever,” said Henry Curtis, Executive Director of Life of the Land.

Art is survived by his wife, Val, their 3 children, and their grandchildren.

— From the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 16, 2026