He first came to Hawaiʻi in January 1970 to attend the University of Hawaiʻi MBA program. He was a Chaplain Assistant for the Army American Community Chapel for the Berlin Brigade (10/71-6/73). He returned to Hawaiʻi with his wife, Irene K. Yanamura (Pearl City) who has undergraduate and graduate degrees from Mānoa. He has been a Hawaiʻi resident since August 1977. Two of their four boys were born in Chicago area and two in Hawaiʻi. They have eight grandchildren.