Yoshito Takamine died Tuesday, October 27, at his home in Honokaa surrounded by family.

He was a longtime advocate for Hawaii labor laws and one of the architects of the groundbreaking Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act.

Yoshito was a strong advocate for labor interest in general, particularly the International Longshoremen & Warehouseman’s Union.

He served as a Hawaii state senator and state representative from 1984 to 2007.

Yoshito was one of the strategists who pushed bills through the state Legislature that would protect and advance the interests of Hawaii’s working people, including the state’s worker’s compensation law, the temporary disability insurance law and the collective bargaining law, giving public workers the right to organize.

First elected to the Territorial House of Representatives in 1958, Yoshito was re-elected 12 consecutive times.

Yoshito was also in charge of the House Labor Committee through most of the 1960s and 1970s, and also served as a spokesman for the labor movement in the House.

He survived by wife Kimiko of Honokaa, his sons, Dwight of Laupahoehoe and Delbert of Las Vegas, his daughters, Arlene Hashimoto of Hilo, Melanie Fergerstrom of Waimea and Karleen Kaohimaunu of Honokaa, as well as his three brothers and three sisters.

Yoshito also has 15 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Yoshito passed away in October 2015.