Paul Kaneshiro

January 7, 1933-October 14, 2022

Paul, or “PK” as many knew him, was born in Waipahu, Hawaii on January 7, 1933. He was the last of seven children born to Kame Nakamura and Kansuke Kaneshiro, who had emigrated from Okinawa, Japan. At the time, Waipahu was a sugar plantation town.

After graduating from Waipahu High School in 1951, Paul joined the U.S. Army and fought in the Korean War. After his service, he returned to Hawaii and worked as taxidermist’s assistant, but quickly realized that that wasn’t his life’s work. Since he had sisters living New York, he came here and never left.

His intention was to go college on the GI bill. He attended NYIT, where he got his B.S. in Engineering and then Polytechnic Institute, now NYU Tandon School of Engineering, from which he received his M.S. in Engineering with an emphasis in Transportation Planning.

Except for brief stints as the aforementioned taxidermist’s assistant, surveyor and Director of Transportation in Trenton, NJ, his entire career was at the NYC Department of Transportation, retiring after 33 years as Deputy Assistant Commissioner in 1996.

He was a voracious reader and could never pass a bookstore without going in to pick up books on subjects as varied as trivia, puzzles, engineering (especially Traffic), cooking, language, history, the Mafia, fiction and non-fiction—and , most certainly on his favorite sport team, the NY Giants, which he supported as a season ticket holder through good years and bad.

He was a kind and generous man and will be tremendously missed by his many friends and family, most especially by his partner of 30+ years, Victoria Nugent, and nephews, Milton (Andrea) and Lance Kobayashi, Curtis, Glenn and Thomas S. (Lynn) Otaguro, Jr..

Interment will be in Waipahu, Hawaii.

Donations may be made to:

NYU Tandon School of Engineering

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New York Public Library

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Notification: Victoria Nugent, 175 West 93 Street #2i, NY, NY 10025

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