The death of former Honolulu resident Mark Auerbach, 83, brought back a flood of memories, mostly of when we lived on Piikoi Street in Makiki back in 1930s and early ’40s. Mark died on Aug. 6 at Wailua Homesteads on Kauai. Services will be held at Punchbowl’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Aug. 26 at 2 p.m. Mark was a former Hawaiian Electric employee and a Saint Louis grad. Mark attended Lincoln Elementary and that’s where I met him and his older brothers, Henry “Hank” and Shay Auerbach. Mark and his brothers transferred to Saint Louis. Mark was the last of the Auerbach boys, who were my best childhood friends, a friendship that lasted as long as they were alive.

Memories flashed back, particularly of old Hawaii, when Mark’s son Mike called to tell me about the death. I called Mark’s longtime friend Carl Reber and childhood neighbor Phyllis Zerbe with the sad news.

Mark was two years younger than Hank and I, and Shay was two years older. Hawaii was a peaceful, laid-back, easy-going place in those Lincoln school years. I was always at the Auerbach house. We threw a football or softball in a large neighborhood yard across from their house or on the street, played Monopoly and other games, and occasionally sold Kool-Aid from a stand on the sidewalk.

We’d go to buy soda pop at Kam store on Wilder Avenue when we had nickels to spare, and browsed through early Superman and Batman comic books. I was called the fourth Auerbach brother and was often included in lunch made by Mrs. Florence Auerbach. She made great sandwiches.

Mark’s dad, Henry Sr., was a McKinley grad and became an officer of Bishop Bank, which became First Hawaiian Bank. Mr. Auerbach had a key to the door of the old bank. One Sunday he had some work to do at the bank so he took us kids with him so we could run toy cars down the empty bank’s long hallway. How remarkable was that? Mark told me about his first kiss from a pretty neighborhood girl, not the above-mentioned pretty Phyllis. Henry Sr. was an Elk and on weekends often took us to the Elks Club to swim. That’s where we met Reber.

Early one Sunday morning Mark, Hank and I were on Piikoi Street in front of my house spinning tops and our friend, Jie Sing “Sonny” Chun, was watching us from across the street on his front steps. Suddenly a Japanese neighbor came running across the street looking shocked, calling my mother’s name and said,“The Japanese are bombing Pearl Harbor.” As I watched the Auerbach boys run home on that Dec. 7, 1941, morning as the terrible attack was going on, I never realized that the Hawaii we knew and loved would never be the same again …

ONWARD: Palama Settlement’s 4th Annual Malama Palama Gala on Oct. 1 at the Sheraton Waikiki will honor the Rath and Gee families, two families who have supported Palama throughout four generations. Social workers James and Ragna Rath founded Palama Settlement in 1905. The late Bill Gee was a Palama Settlement athletic director and his wife, the late Harriett Gee, was a generous donor. Both Gees were journalists and retired from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin after lengthy careers with the newspaper. The gala will support programs for keiki, teens, kupuna and families. It gets underway at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and silent auction, followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tables start at $2,500 and individual seats are $250 each. For more info, call 848-2533, or go to palamasettlement.org/malamapalama2016 …

The Taste of Kick Start Hawaii fundraiser is scheduled for Sept. 4, from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Hawaii Kai Towne Center next to Costco. Kick Start Karate combats juvenile delinquency and youth gang membership through an academic program and martial arts. Food for the event will be provided by Alan Wong’s, Roy’s, Tiki’s, Tanioka’s, Maile’s Thai Bistro and Kanak Attack. Anheuser- Busch, Johnson Brothers and Pepsi will provide beverages. There will be entertainment and a silent auction. Tickets are $200, call 286-8831 or go to kickstarthawaii.org. Former Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue is president of Kick Start Karate …

Ben Wood, who sold newspapers on Honolulu streets in World War II, writes of people, places and things. Email him at bwood@staradvertiser.com.