Ted Sakai, a Hawaii prison reform and parolee advocate who became an Oahu prison warden between two terms leading the state Department of Public Safety, has died.

Sakai was 77, and died Monday after recently ending more than seven years of treatment for advanced lung cancer.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano said Sakai had one of the toughest department director jobs in the state because of community and political opposition to building new correctional facilities needed to replace jails and prisons that have long suffered from inadequate funding and maintenance.

“He was very competent and dedicated to his job,” Cayetano said of Sakai, who first led the Public Safety Department from 1998 to 2002 when Cayetano was governor. “He was a good man, and I considered him a good friend.”

Vernon Char, a local attorney and longtime close friend of Sakai, said Sakai was a humble person who also was pragmatic and could be persistent to achieve goals without offense.

“Even though he was very passionate, he could accomplish things without being antagonistic,” Char said.

The Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission called Sakai someone who dedicated his life to fostering a more humane corrections system, and said his compassion for those in need was immeasurable.

“Ted will be remembered for his leadership, dedication, compassion, and unwavering commitment to the people of Hawaii, and for the warmth he extended to everyone around him,” the commission said in a statement. “Ted’s absence leaves a void that cannot be filled, and he will be deeply missed by the Oversight Commission, and by all who had the privilege of knowing him.”

Sakai was born in Honolulu, raised in Hilo, earned a degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1968 and then found law school not to his liking after one year and worked as a plumbing laborer until he learned of an opening in Hawaii’s Adult Probation Office, according to information from his family.

After a year with the probation office, the nonprofit John Howard Association recruited Sakai in 1971 to help with its work assisting parolees just released from prison and to advocate for correctional reform.

According to the family, Sakai became the first jail counselor in Hawaii history, led an ad hoc coalition to prevent a death penalty in Hawaii and worked for the nonprofit for about nine years in various positions including executive director.

Sakai began his longest stretch of work at the state, 26 years, in 1979 to head the then-new Program Planning Office of the Corrections Division. Subsequent positions included corrections program services administrator, Corrections Division administrator and warden of the minimum-security Waiawa Correctional Facility.

Among Sakai’s achievements cited by his family were efforts to mitigate overcrowding in a corrections system in crisis due to inadequate resources. Those efforts included arranging to house inmates in private facilities outside Hawaii.

Sakai became warden of the Waiawa prison in 2002 after then-new Gov. Lingle Lingle appointed a new public safety director. In 2005, Sakai retired from state government, and for a time became a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement compliance inspector for prisons and jails around the country.

In 2012, under then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Sakai agreed to lead the Public Safety Department again.

“Ted Sakai represents the very best in public service,” Abercrombie said in December. “He sets the standard for integrity, honesty and determination to serve the public interest.”

Sakai’s second stint leading the department ended with Abercrombie’s term as governor in 2014. Sakai that year received an Outstanding Director of Corrections award from the Association of State Correctional Administrators, which recognized Sakai for expanding programs for inmates and improving staff recruitment.

After his final retirement from a state job, Sakai served as part-time executive director of Pu‘ulu Lapa‘au, supporting health care professionals, served as a labor arbitrator and worked with nonprofit agencies.

Sakai in 2016 was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to other areas, but treatment was effective, allowing him to join the Correctional System Oversight Commission in 2019 until December. Sakai also continued working for Pu‘ulu Lapa‘au and as a labor arbitrator until 2023.

Commissioner Martha Torney, who worked alongside Sakai for over 40 years, said in December that no one in the state had more experience and knowledge about all aspects of corrections.

“He has always been held to the highest esteem from his colleagues,” she said in a statement. “From designing programs, to focusing medical and mental health needs to the design of the physical plant, he has always been a mentor, a leader, and a friend.”

Commission Chair Mark Patterson said at the time in a statement, “Ted’s contribution to the Hawaii correctional system for half a century has been profound, he has shown courage and fortitude in navigating and decision making in a profession so often misunderstood.”

In January the Public Safety Department was split into two new agencies: the Department of Law Enforcement, which includes sheriffs, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Tommy Johnson, director of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said he admired Sakai for his many years of tireless dedication to improving the corrections system.

“I considered him a mentor in the corrections field,” Johnson said in a statement. “He will be deeply missed.”

Sakai is survived by immediate family members including wife Ruth, son Matthew, daughter-in-law Cindy and grandchildren Aidan and Emma.

Memorial service information has not yet been announced.