BY U.S. SENATOR DANIEL INOUYE – Jon Van Dyke was a legal scholar of the first order and a tireless advocate for Native Hawaiian and civil rights. He believed in the preservation and protection of history and culture and his research and writings have expanded our understanding of the Constitution and helped change, for the better, the laws that govern our land and sea.
What Jon Van Dyke meant to the thousands of students who he taught and mentored through his work as a professor at the William S. Richardson School of Law can never be quantified. For 35 years he has helped to build and shape the legal minds of generations of attorneys. The legal community in Hawaii is better because of his work.
But above all, Jon was a good man, possessing a sharp wit, a ready smile, and Aloha for all. It is with great sadness that Irene and I offer our heartfelt condolences to Jon’s wife Sherry, sons Jesse Broder Van Dyke and Eric, and daughter Michelle. May God Bless you and your family during this difficult time.