Herman Yet Main Leong

Herman Yet Main Leong, 89, of Henderson, NV passed away on April 4, 2023 in Pirae, French Polynesia (Tahiti) from head trauma after a fall at a port call during a South Pacific cruise. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on May 9, 1933 to You Nam Leong and Jong Lan Leong. He was the seventh of nine children and grew up in a small 2-bedroom house in Pawale Lane. He is predeceased by his parents, his wife of 40 years, Patricia Ann, brother Robert and sisters Violet Tam and Elsie Kau. He is survived by his sisters Annie Leong, Bettie Kahn, Pearl Leong, Alyce Fujihara and brother George and many nieces and nephews and friends.

He was in the third grade when the attack on Pearl Harbor took place. That Sunday, December 7, 1941, he and his friends were selling newspapers in downtown Honolulu. He did not see any Japanese aircraft, but the sky was full of puffs of black smoke from the exploding shells shot at the enemy aircraft and he could feel the concussions of the explosions when the battleships blew up.

He attended Hawaiian Mission Academy, Roosevelt High School and the University of Hawaii (1951 to 1955).

Herman served in the US Air Force for 13 years as a navigator at Ellington AFB, TX, Travis AFB, CA, Kunsan South Korea, Tachikawa AFB Japan, Ft Benning, GA and Hickam AFB, HI. After leaving the US Air Force, he went into real estate for the following 20 years.

While serving at Travis AFB, he was the navigator for an all-Hawaii crew on a mission flown by pilot Don Ho.

He married the beautiful and wonderful Patricia Ann Chun in June 1972. When Patricia retired from teaching in 1995, they moved to Henderson, Nevada. They started traveling a lot, and he took flying lessons in Ultra-light aircraft which led to building an ultra-light from a kit and later a general aviation airplane, also from a kit. In 1999, they moved to Sun City Anthem, a 55+ retirement community. They greatly enjoyed the many activities in this community as well as traveling within the US and the world, going on cruises, Elderhostel programs, Road Scholar trips and meeting new friends everywhere they went. He will be greatly missed by his family and many many friends he had all over the world.

He will be buried in a private service at the Southern Veterans Memorial Cemetery next to his beloved wife.