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Bernard H.K. Lum passed away in Honolulu on December 27, 2021, after a courageous battle with cancer. The following is his self-written obituary. If you are reading this, it means that I was called by God, as my time on earth has expired. I was born in Honolulu on March 13, 1950, and was a lifelong resident of our beautiful Hawaiian islands. I am writing my obituary mainly because I wanted to have the last say, which my wife often pointed out to me was one of my faults. I was preceded in death by my generous and loving parents, Kenneth Tin Hop Lum and Clara Lai Kum Lum, who sacrificed so much for their four children and were always encouraging in our pursuits. They always stressed to me the importance of honesty, hard work and a good education. My dad was very patriotic, proud to be an American, as am I. We were far from wealthy growing up, with four kids and one wage-earner, but we never lacked for anything and mom was an excellent cook and baker. I was also preceded in death in 2016, by my beloved wife, Pamela Reiko Lum. I am survived by my sister, Linda Lee (Calvin Lee); and brothers, Dennis Lum (Sylvia Lum) and Kendric Lum (Sherri Loo); and many much-loved nieces and nephews. Our frequent family get-togethers, especially when mom and dad were with us, were always a source of great fun, inspiration and delicious food. I'm grateful for my wonderful and loving family who provided me support during my illness.
I attended Kaimuki High School and graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a BBA in Accounting, and an MBA. While attending graduate school, I was a teaching assistant in the School of Accounting. In my professional life, I earned a CPA certificate in 1974 and began my public accounting career at Peat Marwick Mitchell and Co., which firm eventually became known as KPMG. After leaving public accounting I was employed for a few years as the controller for a 630 room hotel in Waikiki. I left the hotel industry to join a new ownership & management group as Vice-President, Treasurer and CFO of G.W. Murphy Construction Co., Inc., a general building contractor based in Honolulu, where I worked for more than 16 years. During my tenure at the Company, in the 1980's and mid-1990's, we grew annual revenues from $10 million to over $100 million and were quite pleased with our achievements. After the company was sold to a mainland contracting firm, I left the construction industry, tended to a bad back with spinal surgery, and then joined First Hawaiian Bank as an analyst for the final ten years of my working career, when I retired in 2011. I found my career to be a fulfilling one as I learned so much and met many amazing people in the process. I was extremely lucky to meet my wife, Pamela, through a mutual friend and on a blind date. Pamela had moved to Honolulu after being born and raised in Mount Vernon, New York. We were married in May, 1983. I was blessed to have had a loving wife, best friend and soul mate throughout our more than 33 year marriage. We enjoyed a lifetime of experiences together, whether it was traveling internationally, attending University of Hawaii men's and women's basketball games, sharing meals as aspiring foodies, taking in a foreign film, or just going for long walks. Thank you Pam for all the laughter, tears and love we shared together and for always standing by me. I am excited to meet up with you again in Heaven! In 2017, I was blessed to find and adopt a 3 year-old male mini-labradoodle and renamed him "Buddy". I loved the little guy and enjoyed taking care of him and in return, receiving unconditional love, companionship and immense enjoyment. In my spare time I also enjoyed UH sports, streaming foreign crime dramas, walking with Buddy and investing in the stock markets. In retirement I also rekindled my interest in pocket billiards and even bought a pool table to practice on. I enjoyed many hours of fun and highly competitive games with my two brothers. I was given the gift of life and did my best to make the most of it, knowing that someday my time would be up and I would have to give it back. Like most people I was just a hard working contributing member of our community. I'm grateful for the life I had, even during the difficult times experienced. I thank all of you whose path I crossed over the years and who impacted my life. Life on earth is short so make the most of it and enjoy it as much as possible.
Private services. Donations may be made to the UH Foundation for "The Bernard and Pamela Lum Endowment for Cancer Research" established at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.
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