On Thursday, August 8th, 2013, we said our final goodbye & Aloha to Uncle Ernest "Juggie" Heen. You likely saw his July 30th obituary with the information regarding the services. If not, I've pasted that below.

Since his passing, I've received literally dozens of phone calls and emails from friends with myriad questions about his final days and for details about one aspect or another of his life and death. Juggie and I had been close friends for nearly twenty years and my housemate and long-time companion, Venice Terrell were honored to share our home with Juggie during the past two tumultuous years. Juggie was the grandfather neither Venice or I ever knew and the memories of the time we had with him will be with us both forever.

Juggie was perhaps the most amazing person I've ever know. His brilliant mind was always working and his knowledge of Hawai`i politics and political history, music of all varieties and his wise advice & council will be sorely missed by all who knew him well enough to routinely call on him for advice. To refer to Juggie "multifaceted" doesn't even come close.

Many of the calls I received were from friends asking for photos and I've sent out dozens. During the course of sorting through over 1000 photos of Juggie in my archives, I realized that I might best pay tribute to him by creating a slideshow that I could share on line. That's available at NOTE: This is a large file and will take a few moments to download and begin playing.

The photos include old friends, political & business proteges, functions he attended and honors he had received. But many of the photos are of our daily life around our home. It had indeed become a social and political salon and I never knew who might come by next. 

As many know, we thought Juggie to be near death many months back when he suffered an intestinal blockage and surgery was performed at Queens. After, he went into the Ann Pearl care facility in Kaneohe for several weeks and then miraculously bounced right back. He hated it there and so after some discussion, Venice and I invited him back to our Manoa house. Sadly in April, we lost the rented house and after a "family discussion", Juggie was admitted to the Tripler Senior Veterans Care facility and Venice and I began the ordeal of moving from our large 3-br house into a 400 sq' condo in Kalihi Valley.

As that drug on, we visited Juggie several times a week and he and I talked on the phone several time a day. It soon became clear that the Universe had put Juggie into the hands of the needed caregivers just before his final decline indeed began. Although Juggie was on strong pain meds, I had talked to him on the phone at length only three days before his passing and his mind was clear as a bell and his melodious voice strong. 

In any event, I will remember and greatly miss my friend and mentor for the rest of my life as will all who knew him well. Regards - Scott Foster

P.S. Also see the short vignette by Marsha Joyner about Juggie and Chinatown pasted below his obit. 

ERNEST NALANI HEEN, JR. (“JUGGIE”)

Posted On July 30th, 2013 - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

ERNEST NALANI HEEN, JR. (JUGGIE) Ernest Nalani Heen, Jr., the son of Ernest Nalani Heen, Sr., and Jeannette Kahuoi Hanapi, was born on August 31, 1930, and expired on July 1, 2013. He was known to a wide range of friends and acquaintances as “Juggie,” a nickname he acquired as a young lad. Juggie is survived by four sons, Temujine, Tai Chung, Pono, and Ainoa, and one daughter, Tandra (Malia). After his discharge from the Air Force in 1956, Juggie received “on the job training” in real estate development and sales from his father. Juggie’s knowledge and application of real estate principles, practices, and law attracted the attention of Centex Trousdale, Corp., which hired him to assist them with the development of the lands of Kaneohe Ranch, Ltd. After his success in developing the neighborhoods of Pikoiloa, Kapunahala, and Aikahi Park, Centex made Juggie the overseer of their development of Ahuimanu Valley in Windward O`ahu. Acting for Centex, and with the participation of the Dillingham Corporation and the City and County of Honolulu, Juggie utilized the State Improvement District Statutes to construct the Kahekili Highway, which afforded direct access to Kahalu`u, through Ahuimanu. With Kahekili’s completion, the previously landlocked area was opened for development: the state was able to construct the Windward Community College, and Centex had the opportunity to develop the lands of Ahuimanu Valley. The valley was transformed from an isolated area that had been zoned for industrial use to a vibrant neighborhood community of mixed uses: residential, apartment, commercial and open recreation. Old timers of the valley consider its transformation a monument to Juggie’s ingenuity. In the mid-1960′s as a member of the House of Representatives representing Windward O`ahu, Juggie was directly instrumental in providing succor to needy citizens through legislation requiring insurance companies to cover the cost of chiropractic treatment, and in promulgating the state’s Temporary Disability Insurance Program. Juggie has always “swum against the current” of public opinion regarding exercise of individual rights and most recently championed the right of “death with dignity.” Indeed, Juggie’s very passage is his testament in support of the principle that people should be allowed to decide for themselves how they shall leave the community. He maintained that principle to the end and never, “winced nor cried aloud.” (William Ernest Henley) Juggie is also survived by seven grandchildren, three great grandchildren, his sister, Marion Heen Shim, and his brother, Walter. Final services will be held on August 8, 2013, at 9:00 a.m., at Oahu Cemetery on Nu`uanu Ave.

ORIGINAL AT

The Dark Side of Chinatown

“The Bull of Bethel Street”

Ernest "Juggie" Heen, Jr. 

As a teenager on the day the war ended Juggie recalls being at the USO on the corner of Bethel and King Streets.  “And for the first time I was not afraid; afraid of being taken over by some foreign power.”  Since the middle of the 1930s the American military presence was everywhere.  Then came 1941 and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, everything was changed.

Now Juggie felt he could venture out to find out whom the real Bull of Bethel Street was.  There were such characters of Chinatown with mythical names such as Fat Henry, Bigootee, Kanaka Pete, Combri, J. D. Charles, Hot Dog Mun, Frisco Shorty, Strong-arm Shorty, and Biggie Hamasaki.  Of course the list would not be complete without Tempest Storm, who was among the most famous burlesque performers, Jean O’Hara, the most financially successful Madame of Chinatown, as well as the mysterious murder of Bernice Kimbrel. Juggie had know them all.