Many of you may remember Lance Toyofuku as a fun guy to hang out with at Kaimuki High School. After graduating from KHS, Lance went to the University of Hawai‘i, majoring in civil engineering. He thanks his KHS teachers for preparing him for college. Lance says he skipped his college graduation ceremony because “nothing could compare with the Kaimuki High graduation at H.I.C.”
After working for a construction company, Lance got a job as a contracted civil engineer with the Navy on Kauai. In 1975, Lance applied for a job as an Army intern civil engineer in Korea. After initially being turned off by Korea’s heat and humidity, Lance considered quitting and returning to Hawaii. Like a true Bulldog, he stuck it out and was stationed in Korea doing three assignments for 27 of his 40 years with the federal government.
After retiring from civil service in 2013, his former office asked if he wanted to work for the Directorate of Public Works; Lance seized the opportunity. He’s now at Fort Irwin, enjoying everything that he does for the Army. He and his wife live in Victorville, California. They have two daughters.
While living in Korea, Lance was an active volunteer. He was the founder, and subsequent president, of The Association for Asian and Pacific Islanders, an organization that awarded two to three scholarships every year to deserving students in the high school located on the Yongsan Army installation in Seoul. Awardees could use scholarship money ($500-$1,000) toward school tuition, books, and other collegiate expenses. To raise money for the scholarships, the group organized community lu‘au and golf tournaments. Lance has also volunteered for Korean Catholic organizations. Among many volunteer commitments, he’s fed homeless people in Seoul, and worked on the Yongsan parish council to support the U.S. Army's Catholic community. He provided inspirational witness talks to Catholic men and women attending the Cursillo (short course in Christianity) in Yongsan to become more active in the Catholic Church.
He’s also served as an assistant instructor at St. Patrick Church in Kaimuki for their fifth-grade Sunday School class and was a pastoral council president at Holy Family Church in Hesperia, California.
“Good Fun” Lance has traveled the world working on federal projects with many hair-raising stories to tell and aided many people in his community. One of Kapahulu and Kaimuki’s finest, we are proud of Lance for his service.
