Alejandro Haban, a longtime mechanic at Dole, died Feb. 17 in Lanai City. He was 95.
Haban immigrated to Hawaii from Ilocus Sur in the Philippines and was part of the last wave of sakadas, first-generation Filipinos recruited for plantation labor between 1906 and 1946. His family said he was one of the last living sakadas in the state.
At 18, Haban applied for immigration papers with his older brother in search of a better life. At the time, his parents had taken him out of school to work on a tobacco farm, which his oldest living son, Arthur Haban, said his dad didn’t care for. Haban arrived on Lanai on April 29, 1946, 26 days after boarding the USS Maunawili from the Philippines.
After arriving in the islands, Haban would send money home to his family in the Philippines and even served as the sponsor for his three younger brothers to immigrate to Hawaii.
For three months he worked in the fields at Dole on Lanai. He then transferred to the engineering department and took night classes for six months to learn the basics of mechanics. After earning his mechanic license, Haban worked as a mechanic at Dole for nearly 50 years before retiring in 1993.
Growing up, Arthur Haban said his dad was quiet and humble. As he got older, he said he started to see his dad’s quirky, quiet sense of humor come through. His dad was also very friendly and often checked up on neighbors and friends who lived alone. Although he only had an elementary-level education, Arthur Haban said his dad was smart and could fix almost anything.
“He just enjoyed life,” he said. “He was very friendly and very helpful, always helping neighbors and seeing if they need any assistance. He was always smiling and saying hi to people.”
In his spare time, Haban enjoyed fishing, diving, hunting and golfing. Anita Haban-Nakamaejo, his oldest daughter, said she still vividly remembers when she and her siblings would tag along with their dad on his fishing and diving trips.
“We always waited for him on the beach. I remember after he came in from the ocean, he would teach us how to swim,” she said. “We would kind of hop on his back, and he’d be underwater. Because he was such a good diver, he could stay underwater for so long, so it looked like I was floating. I remember that so clearly. I really enjoyed that.”
Haban-Nakamaejo said her dad was well known as the area’s best mechanic and would fix the trucks and machines at Dole. She said he’d also keep in touch with the other sakadas on Lanai and would look up friends who had moved to Oahu in the phone book to catch up. Both she and Arthur Haban said there are many things that they will miss about their dad.
“One of the things I miss is just being around him and learning and listening to what he had to say,” Arthur Haban said. “My friends used to say, ‘Your dad’s always smiling.’ And that’s who he was.”
Haban is survived by his wife, Maria, eight children, 14 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. A celebration of life and service for Haban was held Saturday in Lanai City.
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Jayna Omaye covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
