Eric Emerson

Eric Emerson, age 61, died at his home in Quincy, MA on Thursday, August 23, 2018. His death was unexpected, caused by a cardiac event.

Born in Honolulu, Eric spent his childhood surfing Waikiki, his young adulthood at the University of Hawaii and the Sheraton Waikiki and many decades of his life fighting for justice for Hawaii’s hotel workers as a proud member and leader of UNITE HERE Local 5. Several years ago, he moved with his family to just outside Boston, MA, where he had recently retired, spending the last 10 months of his life as a stay at home dad and never ending gardener.

In our family, he did the laundry, planted the gardens, cooked Madison dumplings like his grandmother used to make, and learned how to make homemade poke (they may call the stuff they sell around here poke but…). He surrounded every home we lived in with fruit trees. Outside of the house, he helped make a better world through many years of work in the labor movement, most especially his years at UNITE HERE Local 5 in Honolulu, HI.

Eric was often grumpy, always funny, told wonderful stories and will forever be unforgettable. He was also a deeply kind individual who touched the lives of many.

He is survived by his wife, Laura Moye, and their 8-year old daughter Madison, as well as his aunt, Alice Krautheim, his siblings Phyllis, Carl, Lloyd and Lisa, his hanai brother Arlen Balanon and a big loving family of in-laws who took him in as their own, especially his parents-in-law, Howard and Doris Moye.

A memorial service for Eric will be Thursday, January 3 starting at 4 pm at Hosoi Garden Mortuary in Honolulu. His family will spread his ashes off Waikiki on Saturday January 5.

Gifts may be made in his honor to the UNITE HERE Local 5 Strike and Hardship Fund or to his daughter’s college fund, checks made payable to Fidelity Investments, write “Madison Emerson 529”, and mailed to Jenny Moye at 43 Mather St, Dorchester, MA 02124.