Gene K. Aina

Gene Kehaulani Aina was born in Honolulu, HI on February 3, 1945 and grew up in Hilo, HI with his parents Thomas and Helen Aina. He was the eighth of 10 children.
He attended St. Joseph's School for kindergarten, Waikeawaena Elementary, Hilo Intermediate, and Hilo High School. He worked for Young Brothers Inter- Island Shipping while in high school, and for a short while after graduating. Gene was in the US Army National Guard before leaving Hawaii. In the mid-60s he moved to Livermore, CA and attended Chabot College in Hayward, CA, while working for the Livermore School District. He was married to Mary Bichanich on October 19, 1968 at St. Peter's Church in Dauby, WI. They lived in California for a short time and moved to Ashland, WI in 1970. He was an Ashland police officer for fifteen and a half years. Then in 1987, he returned to California, where he was the Jail (and Property-Evidence) Supervisor with the Hayward (CA) Police Department for 16 years.
Gene is survived by his wife Mary, son Robert Aina (Ashland), daughter Annette Aina (Sacramento, CA), brothers, Dale (Blanche) Aina (Kaneohe, HI), Don (Rowena) Aina (Forest Grove, OR), Bobby (Beatrice) Aina (Hilo, HI), and sisters Rose Ynigues (Kona, HI), Juanita Kuhns (Oregon), and special cousins Carol Kekela & Susan Maluo in Hilo, HI.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas & Helen, his two sisters, Leilani Goeas & Thelma Reardon, brothers Thomas, Glen, John, & James (at birth). Gene is further survived by B-I-L Ivan (Dorothy) Bichanich, S-I-L Barbara Bichanich, Agnes Moniza, Pauline Casalaspro, Pat Bichanich, & Ann Thull, nephew David Bichanich, nieces Janie Slivensky, & Debra Couls, and many other nieces and nephews in Wisconsin, Washington, California, Florida, and Hawaii.
A Memorial Mass of Christian burial will be held at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Ashland on Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 11:00am with gathering of family and friends at 10:00am. A lunch will follow immediately after the service in the social hall, with inurnment at 2:00pm.
The family wishes to thank the Mountain Funeral Home for their gracious arrangements and heartfelt attention to detail.