George M. “Scotty” Koga, a former state legislator and city councilman who helped spearhead the design of the state Capitol in the 1960s, died at his Kaimuki home on Nov. 28. He was 87.
“He was a kind man who related to people regardless of their station in life,” said his only daughter, Suzanne Mino Koga.
The youngest of nine children, Koga was born to Michie and Kiuta Koga and raised in Kapahulu. He graduated from Saint Louis School in 1946 and earned his bachelor of arts degree in economics from the University of Hawaii in 1950. A year later, he served in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant and later graduated from the Georgetown University Law School with a bachelor of law degree in 1956.
He established a private law practice and worked as chief counsel for the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii before he served at the state Legislature and Honolulu City Council.
Koga was a state representative from 1959 to 1964, serving as chairman of the Government Efficiency Committee and vice chairman of the Tourism Committee. In 1965, he was elected to the Honolulu City Council, where he served until 1979. He was Council chairman between 1971 and 1975.
He helped foster international relations between Honolulu and cities throughout Asia and maintained strong governmental ties and friendships with leaders of South Korea.
Koga was co-chairman with the late business executive and philanthropist Robert Midkiff of a committee on the design and location of the state Capitol.
He also served on a committee to create the Chaminade University Educational Foundation.
Koga was a big fan of baseball and boxing and an avid golfer. For decades, he played golf weekly at Waialae Country Club with a group of inseparable friends that included late financier Chinn Ho.
“Scotty was one of the most likable guys there was,” said Ho’s son, Honolulu businessman and philanthropist Stuart Ho.
He treasured his time with his family, singing Hawaiian and hapa-haole songs with his wife, Ruth Kamuri Koga, and telling jokes. “He had a ready smile and a joke for everybody,” said his daughter, Suzanne.
She said he will be best remembered for his sense of humor and his thoughtfulness, and for being “a man of the people.” She remembered how he carried a pocketful of dog treats for neighborhood pets during his regular walks through Palolo, one of the areas he served as a state representative.
Suzanne Koga recalled her father’s advice to “live a right life” — be honest and do your best.
“He was such a good man,” she said.
Along with his wife and daughter, Koga is survived by sister Karen Makiko Okada and granddaughter Kira Luka Koga-Eisenhauer.
Services will be held Dec. 12 at St. Patrick Church, 1124 7th Ave., in Honolulu. Visitation starts at 10:30 a.m., with Mass to follow at 11 a.m. His family requests no flowers.
