Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz tweeted: “Deeply saddened to hear about my colleague Mark Takai’s passing from cancer”.
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Mark Takai was 49 years old. He served as a longtime lieutenant colonel in the Hawaii Army National Guard for more than a decade and was deployed to the Middle East as a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
U.S. Congressman Mark Takai died this morning after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
“He always brought the “aloha spirit” into the committee and represented his constituency well”, said Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, and Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., the chairman and ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, on which Takai also sat, in a joint statement. “In the often tumultuous world of politics, he has been a shining example of what it means to be a public servant”.
Takai was first diagnosed with cancer in October and initially expressed optimism that he would recover. But in May, Takai revealed his cancer had spread and he was dropping out of the race.
Rep. Takai planned to finish out his term, which would have ended in January 2017.
The Iraq War veteran first won a seat in the state House of Representatives at the age of 27 and served as vice speaker from 2005 to 2006.
‘Mark confronted his diagnosis with the spirit we all hope we would share when facing such an bad disease.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard served with Takai in all three capacities. He was a great leader. “I offer my honest condolences to his family and friends, and my thanks for his tireless contribution to the defense of the United States”. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Sami and their children Matthew and Kaila and all of the Takai ohana in this very hard time”.
‘Mark was a close friend.
“This is the deepest of losses and one that I feel very personally because of my friendship with Mark”, said U.S. Sen. Aloha Mark. Rest in peace’.
Our hearts go out to his parents Erik and Naomi, his wife Sami, also a member of our UH ʻohana, his children Kaila and Matthew and the rest of his family and friends.
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His congressional office in Honolulu confirmed that he passed away at home, “surrounded by family”. In a statement Wednesday, his family thanked their fellow islanders for their support, and asked for privacy.
