1 Masaji Marumoto, believed to be the first Japanese American to sit on a state supreme court bench, died Friday at the age of 89.
2 The son of Japanese immigrants, Marumoto was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to Hawaii's territorial supreme court in 1956. He was named to the state Supreme Court by Republican Gov. William Quinn when Hawaii attained statehood in 1959.
3 Marumoto resigned the following year to return to private law practice, but returned to the Supreme Court for another term in 1967 when he was nominated by Democratic Gov. John Burns.
4 Marumoto is credited with helping prevent the mass evacuation of Hawaii's Japanese Americans to relocation camps on the mainland in the wake of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
5 At the time, he was already a prominent figure in Hawaii's Japanese-American community. Through his friendship with FBI and Army officials, Marumoto and other community leaders convinced authorities that a mass evacuation wasn't necessary.
6 Marumoto attended the University of Chicago before being admitted to Harvard Law School.
7 Marumoto enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 and was later assigned to the Judge Advocate General's Corps. After World War II ended, he served in Okinawa and Korea with U.S. military government units.
8 Marumoto's contributions to U.S.-Japan relations earned him the Second Class Order of the Sacred Treasure, presented by Emperor Hirohito.
9 Survivors include his wife, Shigeko, son Wendell, daughter Claire, four grandchildren and a great-grandson.
10 A memorial service was set for Tuesday at Nuuanu Memorial Park Mortuary.

Marumoto is credited with helping prevent the mass evacuation of Hawaii ' s Japanese Americans to relocation camps on the mainland in the wake of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor .
Hawaii ' s Japanese Americans to relocation camps
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