Ha. Ha. Two can pull that disappearing act.
Archiving to the long thread before it disappears. Notice Grandma Dunham was a Mortgage Administrator at Bankoh, great position to know of a safe address to supply for registration of birth and a birth announcement!
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To LucyT | 11/04/2008 6:24:59 PM PST sent
Remembering Madelyn Dunham
Obama’s grandmother
By Marisa Yamane
Senator Barack Obama has said that his grandmother was the cornerstone of his family.
Madelyn Dunham was also a pioneer in Hawaii’s banking industry.
Those who worked with madelyn dunham say she was a powerful woman.
She was also highly respected.
Senator Barack Obama is blazing a trail to become the first African-American President of the United States.
He’s following in the footsteps of the woman who helped raised him — his grandmother Madelyn Dunham — who was also a trailblazer.
“She was one of the finest employees we ever had that I can recall,” said Howard Stephenson, Dunham’s former boss.
Howard Stephenson hired Dunham at Bank of Hawaii in 1960.
“One of the things that attracted me to Madelyn was we were both from Kansas,” said Stephenson.
Joking aside, he says Dunham had what they were looking for.
“She had experience in Seattle in the escrow business, and there was no one here who had had any experience,” said Stephenson.
Dunham started as a Mortgage Administrator, worked her way up to Escrow Officer, then Escrow Manager.
“She was a worker, a workaholic I would say really, ha ha,” said Stephenson.
In 1970, Dunham became Bank of Hawaii’s second female Vice President in what was then a male dominated industry.
“Madelyn definitely was one of these people who just through sheer determination, hard work got to where she got to,” said Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, (D) Hawaii.
Hirono worked under Dunham at Bank of Hawaii.
So did Dennis Ching.
“She was very strict. We were totally scared of her,” said Ching.
Ching succeeded Dunham when she retired after an illustrious 25-year career.
Dunham also played a significant role in Obama’s life as he was growing up in Hawaii.
“She’s the one who taught me about hard work. She’s the one that put off buying a new dress or car for herself so I could have a new life. She poured everything into me,” said Sen. Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention.
Stephenson remembers seeing the young Obama in the bank waiting for his grandmother to get off of work.
He says he last spoke to Dunham by phone this past May.
“And I said how’s it going? And she said I never thought my life would be like this. Because people were constantly beating on her door, everyone wanted to interview her,” said Stephenson.
Monday night, people stopped by Dunham’s apartment building to express their condolences.
“We’re saddened this happened the day, the night before election.”
“She is one that had a lot of drive, and I thought if anyone who could hang on for awhile, but it’s too bad she didn’t see this come to pass,” said Stephenson.
The family is planning a small, private memorial service for Dunham at Borthwick Mortuary.
No word yet if - or when - Obama will return to the islands.
Story Updated: Nov 3, 2008 at 10:19 PM HST