Hawaii Xerox office to quietly observe massacre anniversary: Still struggling with grief, employees asked to honor 7 slain men in own way

Nov 01, 2009 (The Honolulu Advertiser - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- XRX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The lei, flowers and cards of condolences have long been removed from Xerox Corp.'s 12th floor offices on Bishop Street, and this year -- the 10th anniversary of Hawaii's worst mass murder -- the tragedy of Nov. 2, 1999, will be remembered in silence by each employee.

The trauma and the loss of seven co-workers who were gunned down by convicted killer Byran Uyesugi -- an angry and disgruntled Xerox copy machine repairman now serving a 235-year prison term -- always invades the thoughts of Ian K.P. Yee as each Nov. 2 draws near.

But this year, Yee isn't sure how he's going to feel when each of Xerox's approximately 200 employees will be asked to hold a moment of silence at their own time and in their own way at work tomorrow.

"It should be very interesting," said Yee, who was one of the spokesmen for Xerox in 1999 and is now the company's production solutions manager and manager, technical support for Hawaii.

"Every Nov. 2, I think about them, but early this year I realized that we were coming up on the 10th year," Yee said. "You never forget it. So I'm sure the 10-year mark will bring back those memories and certainly bring back some of those emotions."

It was a Tuesday morning and Yee was in a meeting in a conference room in Xerox's offices in the Topa Financial Center when Glenn Sexton, Xerox's vice president and general manager in Honolulu, was asked to step outside, Yee said.

Sexton returned and announced that seven co-workers had been killed at the company's warehouse and training center on Nimitz Highway just after 8 a.m.

Crime scene investigators later recovered 20 shell casings from the 9 mm pistol Uyesugi used, reloaded and used again to kill all seven men: Jason Balatico, 33, Ford Kanehira, 41, Ron Kataoka, 50, Ron Kawamae, 54, Melvin Lee, 58, Peter Mark, 46, and John Sakamoto, 36.

There is no memorial to what happened 10 years ago on the second floor of the Xerox Engineering Systems Building at 1200 N. Nimitz Highway.

private memorials

At the employees' request, Xerox moved its warehouse and training operation to Auahi Street in Kaka'ako in April 2000, even though the company still had to pay the lease for the old building, which was taken over by a flooring business.

"For the good of our employees," Sexton said, "we needed to hurry up and find a new facility."

Xerox was highly praised in the business and communications communities for its response to the killings, including bringing in former CEO Rick Thoman to speak to employees, family members and the media.

"We knew that in the first few days how we respond would be very, very impotant," Sexton said.

On the first anniversary of the tragedy, Xerox organized a memorial service at the First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu and each subsequent Nov. 2 holds moments of silence throughout the company's Hawaii operations.

"Organizationally, individually and personally we've made a conscious effort not to forget," Sexton said. "It's unforgettable. It was such a huge tragedy."

This year, Sexton will post memos and send out e-mails urging everyone to remember their former co-workers with their own, personal moment of silence.

Xerox has grown from about 180 employees in 1999 to about 200 today. About half of the current employees worked for Xerox back in 1999.

"I think about this a lot -- all of the time -- in terms of how we want to honor our lost colleagues," Sexton said. "Since the range of experience is so diverse, we want to make that a personal choice, to meditate or pray or reflect in their own way. Time does have a healing effect, but this is such a significant tragedy that I'm sure it affects people in private and different ways."

grief still remains

In the days following the shootings, Xerox's suite of Bishop Street offices were filled with flowers, lei and notes. And over the years, customers have continued to ask how Xerox employees are coping, Sexton said.

"We got through this really because of some terrific employees and the outpouring of customer and community support that overwhelmed me," Sexton said. "It's diminished over the years, but customers still ask how everyone's doing. It's still very much in people's consciousness and their support and help has been very positive.

" One of our employees suggested the very best thing we can do to honor our colleagues is to do a good job for our customers. Within a day, we were back to work and lots of our customers took care of us. I'll never forget that."

Wendell Elento, a former associate pastor at Hope Chapel in Kane'ohe, joined Xerox as a salesman in 2000 and found an organization overwhelmed with grief.

"There was a lot of hurt," Elento said. "It's still there."

He has since co-founded the Wednesday Lunch Church For Super Busy People on the vacant 20th floor of the Topa Financial Center, where many Xerox employees often gather for prayer and inspiration.

Tomorrow, as the company marks the 10th anniversary of the worst mass murder in Island history, Elento said Xerox employees continue to struggle with a range of emotions.

"For many of them," he said, "it's still very, very difficult."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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