Nicholas Muragin Jr., 81, passed away peacefully at home with his family by his side. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, attended St. Theresa Catholic School and graduated from St. Louis School.
He was retired from Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (30 years + 2 years in the U.S. Navy), Hawai‘i Air National Guard (20 years) and the State of Hawai‘i / DOD (20 years).
Nick enjoyed golfing, fishing, camping, cooking, playing his ukuleles and guitars, traveling with family and working with his hands repairing broken things. Nick was a hard working husband and father whose legacy and priority was always to provide for his family. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, cousin, co-worker and friend.
Nick is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart of 64 years, Polly, sons Nicholas “Nicky J” III (Kookie DeMello), Stephen (Sally Best), Jason (Summer Miranda), daughter Cassandra Song (Dean), sisters Elvanette Silva (Stephen), Bernadine Stump (Robert), 9 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Catholic Mass service to celebrate Nick’s life will be held on Saturday, April 2, 2022, at St. George Church, Waimanalo. Visitation: 10:30 AM, Service: 11:30 AM, Burial: 2 PM at Hawaiian Memorial Park Mortuary, Kaneohe. Aloha attire. Face masks are required.
Retiree News extends heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends.
Nicholas’ son, Nicholas III, also served in the Hawai‘i Air National Guard
Retiree News recently reconnected with William “Hammer” Ladd. Hammer flew with the 199th Fighter Squadron during the F-4 and F-15 eras. His recent email provided the following comments:
My apologies to you – and many others – I got out of touch after Aloha Airlines went out of business in 2008 – I had to “jump” to find suitable employment and went to Shenzhen, China and flew 737’s in and around China.
Rhonda and the family moved to China in May 2009, where both kids prospered.
Son, William (“Kai”) mastered the language, attending college in Beijing and getting a BA and MA in International Business and Chinese language (2021). He earned his private flying license in the USA, and is currently employed as a “headhunter,” of sorts, working for EQUUS, finding jobs for young people… and interviewing with the HIANG, as his life-long dream is to fly for the HIANG in the 199th FS…
Daughter, Arianna, began riding horses and competing in equestrian show-jumping, winning a children’s world silver medal at age 14, then training in Europe for 3 years, winning a 1st place in the Longines’ “Global Champions Tour” CSI2, in 2015… videos are on her website “AriannaLadd.com.” Arianna’s goal is to compete in the Olympics…
I retired from Shenzhen airlines, and found employment as a simulator instructor in the Gulfstream G550 executive jet, at FlightSafety International, in Hong Kong… until July 2021, when my own medical issue (Parkinson’s) forced my retirement…
Anyway, we bought a horse farm in Kentucky, where Arianna has been training daily with an Olympic coach, who happens to live nearby…
It was great to catch up with Hammer!
Those wanting to reconnect with Hammer should email Retiree News for contact information.
The Kūkā‘ilimoku is the official e-newsletter of the 154th Wing, Hawai’i Air National Guard. The first issue came in September 1957 and continues as a monthly newsletter today.
Today we feature the March 2008 Kūkā‘ilimoku issue. This issue includes the following stories:
* First Pacific State Partnership Program Workshop
* C-17 maintainers recognized at 15th Maintenance Group’s Award Ceremony
* Daughter reenlists her mother
* Promotions: including Russell Abe, Darrell Bactad
From the Wired Magazine website
Backups are boring, but they’ll save your bacon. Here’s how to make sure your data lives on, even when your PC doesn’t.
Making backups is boring, but the alternative – losing your data – is the kind of excitement no now wants, I once lost 80 pages of a novel to a bad hard drive, I had no backups, While most of the world is thankful to have been spared those 80 pages, if the hard drive had lived, who knows? I might be sipping a mai tai on a Maine beach with Stephen King right now.
Nowadays I backup my data at least three times, in three physically separated places. I know what you’re thinking – wow, he is really bummed about missing out on that mai tai. It may sound excessive, but it costs next to nothing and happens without me lifting a finger, so why not?
Webmaster comments: During the Retiree News website’s nine year run, backups have saved us at least three times. There was the laptop hard drive failure and two backup portable hard drives failures. But one of our three backups restored our files. Then there were the times when an individual file became corrupted but there was a backup file.
But it is critical you backup your digital assets, your financial data and more important, your family photographs. Unless there’s a backup, the photographs of your children and grandchildren growing up cannot be recovered.
SSgt John Linzmeier is a member of the 154th Wing’s Public Affairs team. His articles and photographs have appeared in the Kūkā‘ilimoku, Air National Guard and Air Force publications.
John served on active duty before joining the Hawaii Air National Guard several years ago.
Congratulions John!
From the JohnnyJet Twitter Feed
Stewart Chiron, aka The Cruise Guy, has been on 289 cruises, including 13 in the last eight months. Stewart was kind enough to answer every question I threw at him, from how has cruising changed since the pandemic to which ships are the most luxurious and which ports are his favorite.
The death of your spouse is a period of unimaginable grief. Unfortunately, there are many legal and financial obligations that will not wait.
Tackling a to-do list at this time is probably the last thing you want to do, so it is a good idea if you can seek out the help and advice of a trusted family member, friend or adviser to sort things out and provide you with emotional guidance. Here is a checklist to help guide you through the most important tasks you need to complete:
After spending decades as your parents’ child, becoming the caregiver for mom or dad can be a jarring role reversal.
Yet for an estimated 42 million Americans, providing care for a parent or other adult relative age 50 or older is a daily reality, according to a recent study from Seniorly that looked at caregiver fatigue in the U.S. amid the pandemic. Some caregivers — those in the so-called Sandwich Generation — feel the squeeze from both sides as they tend to both children and parents.
So many retirees budget for their ideal retirement but don’t always consider one piece of the puzzle that could easily derail a solid plan with the impact of inflation. As of January 2022, inflation hit a 40-year high as the Consumer Price Index increased to 7.5%, and everyone is feeling it when they go to the grocery store or fill up at the gas stations.
This undated photograph shows David Leong and William Beck from the F-4 Engine Shop. Both served many years in the Hawaii Air National Guard before their retirements.
Thanks to Yvette Miraflor for identification assistance.
From the U.S. News & World Report website
Rising prices can be tough for anyone who relies on a set income in retirement. Inflation hit 7.9% in February 2022, a 40-year high. The rising prices for gasoline, shelter and food are contributing the most to the increase. “This is extremely detrimental to most retirees whose income is at least partially fixed,” says Doug Carey, owner of WealthTrace, a financial and retirement planning software company in Zionsville, Indiana. “I have found that a retiree with a $40,000 per year pension will lose 25% of the value of that pension in real dollar terms in just three years at today’s inflation rate.”
The Kūkā‘ilimoku is the official e-newsletter of the 154th Wing, Hawaii Air National Guard. The first issue came in September 1957 and continues as an e-newsletter today.
Today we feature the March 1965 Kūkā‘ilimoku issue. This issue includes the following stories:
* Operation Big Switch III
* Armed Forces Day preparation
* Promotions: including Charles Tasaka, Ronald Izutsu, David Paahana
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States government’s highest and most prestigious military decoration that may be awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, Space Force guardians, and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States, but as it is presented “in the name of the United States Congress“, it is often referred to as the “Congressional Medal of Honor”.
There are three distinct variants of the medal: one for the Department of the Army, awarded to soldiers, one for the Department of the Navy, awarded to sailors and marines, as well as coast guardsmen of the Department of Homeland Security, and one for the Department of the Air Force, awarded to airmen and Space Force guardians. (Wikipedia)
This undated photograph features Henry Hasuiki, probably in the 1980 based on his fatigue uniform. He served in the Avionics Branch before moving the Quality Control section later in his career. For many years, he volunteered as the 154th Composite Group’s horticulturist.
Retiree News 