On June 9th 2009 Hawai’i in particular the City & County of Honolulu lost one of the most outstanding examples that the American dream thrives in its 50th State. A man born into humble circumstances in a Maryland Hospital just a few miles from Washington DC on July 21st 1952, raised in rural Arkansas, and later in Maryland, where his family instilled in Mark Edmund the principals of hard work, discipline and the love of family a concept he was later to learn was embodied in the Hawai’i’an word ‘Ohana.’
Mark Bainum grew up on a farm where his chores included tending to horses & cattle, hoeing corn, and in his own words “plus helping water and feed young chicks at the chicken house. I can still recall the forceful smell and odor of 1500 hungry, thirsty, chirping chicks.”
Education played a key role in Bainum’s life, his Grandma Florence encouraging him to read in his spare time especially biographies of great Americans such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, instilling the idea that from modest origins one could achieve great things. Bainum’s earliest school was a simple country two room school with fewer than fifteen students, later his family moved ‘up north’ so that his older brother could attend a high school offering a ‘Christian Education.’ The move benefited young Mark who now found himself in a challenging new environment, a “brick n’ mortar school with more than 300 students.” The adjustment made easier by the devotion of teachers, once again in Duke’s words, “The teachers at the new school inspired me to learn and do more. The school principal was a dedicated educator who doubled as the school librarian. She loved helping students who had the desire to learn. I recall her telling me right before I left the 8th grade that I was the first student to read every book in the school library. My earlier values of respect, cooperation, and caring were re-enforced at this school. With so many other kids around, I also learned to get along with people, even if they did not agree with my view of the world. The playground became the laboratory of learning how to work with people, no matter what their backgrounds.”
Inspired by an Auntie, a public health nurse, older brother Tim decided to pursue medicine as a career and it was only natural that Mark did the same, Mark Bainum graduated from The University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1980 and then he came to Hawai’i to fulfill his internship requirements at The University of Hawai’i Surgical Residency program, working at various local hospitals.
It is fitting that Hawai’i gave Mark Bainum a nickname, Duke, in honor of his ‘John Wayne country drawl’ (legacy of Arkansas), and that Hawai’i gave the newly minted Duke a renewed purpose in life. Answering the call for volunteer doctors needed in Nepal in 1984, the experience gave Duke Insight into the need for service to his community, city & county government, specifically the need for local government to serve the needs of the community, to impact the lives of people in a positive affirmative way. That desire to serve led Duke into politics.
Duke dedicated his life to serving the city & county he had learned to love, so much so that he once said “25 years ago, I chose to make Honolulu my home forever. And today, my sense of connection to Oahu and the people of this City makes me feel as though I’ve always lived here.”
Duke’s dedication to work was inspiring. He could have easily settled into life as a physician with a thriving practice and perhaps a nibble at the political scene now & then but no, he felt it was vital to take courses from The Western Regional Banking School so that he could better manage his families business affairs, expanding his resume by serving as a chairman of the Diamond State Bank in Arkansas from 1999 to 2004 while juggling his medical duties, a young thriving family, and service to the Honolulu Community.
Duke’s community service began with the Ala Moana / Kakaako Neighborhood Board from 1987 to 1989, moving up to chair the McCully-Moiliili Neighborhood Board from 1989 to 1990, then a stint with the Hawai’i State House of Representatives from 1990 to 1994. Duke first served on the Honolulu City Council from 1995 to 2003.
The events of 2004 here in Honolulu will likely never be settled to everyone’s satisfaction. Duke Bainum ran for Honolulu Mayor against Mufi Hanneman and for a while seemed to be the likely victor, then allegations were thrown around, the mud flying fast & furious and in the end Duke lost by the narrowest of margins, by 1, 300 votes. One could have forgiven Duke had he settled for the rigors of a full medical career but he had a need to serve and so when a seat became vacant on the Honolulu Council he once again threw himself into the fray. Unopposed Duke won handily and was soon back in the thick of the fight, arguing against proposed tax increases, voicing concerns that residents of Honolulu ought to be treated fairly, with respect & dignity.
Outwardly healthy, in the prime of his life, in the midst of the sort of political fight he seemed to thrive on, Duke died of a “an aortic aneurism, or a ruptured discetion of the aorta,“ a result of hypertension, high blood pressure. Duke’s death removes him from further speculation; the list is limitless. A viable candidate for Mayor, even the office of Governor was within Duke’s reach, now none of us will know, all that we know is that Honolulu is saddened by the loss of a man few will argue was truly dedicated to the City & County, to the State that he had come to love, that had come to love him in turn.
Duke Bainum is survived by his wife and two sons, as of this writing memorial services have been set as per http://www.kitv.com/politics/19784503/detail.html “The funeral for the late Honolulu council member will be held June 26, at Hosoi Garden Mortuary. Visitation starts at noon, with the service beginning at 2 p.m. The following day, Bainum will be buried at Diamond Head Memorial Park at 10:30 a.m The family requested that no one give flowers. Instead, the family asked that people make donations to the Duke and Jennifer Bainum Foundation, P.O. Box 11120, Honolulu, HI 96828.” For More Info go to http://www.dukebainum.com/index.html
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