Kenneth James Barroga
Lucy Peros | Photos courtesy the Barroga ‘Ohana
Many learned individuals have been quoted about the importance of education. For instance, Nelson Mandela, an activist and former President of S. Africa said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Martin Luther King, Jr., an American minister and civil rights activist said: “Intelligence plus character is the goal of true education.” Brian Tracy, a Canadian American motivational public speaker and self- development author also said: “Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.” A Tibetan Proverb says it all in a very simple way: “A child without education is like a bird without wings.”
This month’s featured Sakada Offspring, Kenneth James Barroga deeply appreciates the sacrifices his Sakada parents, Felipe Barroga and Eusebia (Sylvia) Barroga made for him and his brother in education.
Kenneth James Barroga was born in 1952 at the Maui Memorial Medical Center. According to Kenneth, he grew up in a small house on Kaho‘okele Street. He used to walk himself to go to school at Wailuku Elementary School, and later ‘Īao Middle School. He remembered a teacher who helped him learn how to read. His parents worked a lot. He remembered his parents wanting him to learn English so he would not miss some conversations because they were not in English.
Kenneth graduated from St. Anthony High School and continued his education at Seattle University in Seattle, Washington where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business in 1974. He has been retired since 2020. Most of his work was in banking and investment management. The majority of his financial work was with Wells Fargo Bank. He worked himself up to Assistant VP. He also worked for Washington Mutual and Chase Bank. He eventually ran his own financial advising company with his wife, Sarah Rice.
Kenneth has three sons from a prior marriage to Julia Bamford. They are strong healthy adults now. Devin, Ian and Andrew have each found themselves rewarding work. Kenneth is very proud of them.
Kenneth’s older brother, Felipe Barroga, Jr. unfortunately passed away in 2012 and is survived by his wife Norma and three adult children—Philippe, Claire and Christine.
In his retirement, Kenneth served on a non-profit board and cared for their two horses and ranch. He and his wife Sarah travel as often as they can. They have travelled with her family to several countries. Currently, they are planning a trip to Cinque de Terra, Italy. Walk while you can and eat healthy is their motto for a long healthy life.
Kenneth’s father, Felipe C. Barroga came to Maui with his father in 1926. Felipe was 16 years old. The Barrogas were originally from Bantay, Ilocos Sur but moved to Camiling, Tarlac. Eusebia Barroga’s parents were originally from Piddig, Ilocos Norte. Kenneth’s grandfather and his father both arrived together to work for the sugar company. They lived in Pu‘unēnē and were both field laborers. Five years later, Kenneth’s grandfather returned to the Philippines while his father stayed back. He was twenty-one years old in 1933 and living on Maui on his own. Felipe worked hard. Because of his efforts to form a union for field laborers, however, he was told to leave the company.
Ambitious Felipe did not stay idle. After he left the field work, he became an entrepreneur opening a pool hall business at Market and Vineyard St. in Wailuku. During World War II, he also added a taxi service to transport service members around the island. He was eventually hired by Maui Electric Company where he enjoyed his remaining work years. He retired at the age of sixty-two with pension. According to Norma, Kenneth’s sister-in-law, Felipe was a very good storyteller, a very good cook and a good gardener. He was a talented fishnet maker. He even sold his fishnets he made at the old Valley Isle Hardware Store in Wailuku. He was a member of the United Sons and Daughters of the Ilocano Regions. Felipe passed away in 1996 and is buried at Maui Memorial Park Cemetery next to Kenneth’s mother, who passed away in 2005.
Eusebia (Sylvia) grew up in Hāna, the daughter of a Chinese-Filipino immigrant and a Hawaiian father who was a Kahuna (Hawaiian healer / spiritual leader). According to Kenneth, his father courted his mother by driving in a nice car along Hāna, Highway, full of food for her family. Kenneth’s father was a car salesperson then and he managed to arrive in a new car, impressing his future in-laws. There were several years between Kenneth’s parents but that never created any problems.
After they were married, Eusebia (Sylvia) Augustin Barroga moved with Kenneth’s father to Wailuku. Sylvia was a good seamstress. She sewed at home. At the same time, there was a woman from Germany who taught Sylvia how to drive so she could get to her new job as a pastry chef’s assistant at the Sheraton Maui in Kā‘anapali. “Life was exciting as a child as we got to eat the practice pastries. Yum,” claims Kenneth. In addition, Kenneth mentions living in Wailuku in those days was great fun, playing with neighbors and his cousins: “I even sold mangoes to the tourists on the buses at the ‘Īao Valley. The drivers always encouraged my sales and one even taught me how to serve the delicious fruit so his bus and the tourists stayed clean.”
Kenneth shares his reflections about his father: My father was all about hard work, living the American dream. Do good and live well. My father taught me how to successfully catch fish but he did not teach me his Philippine language. He shared what he thought would be most productive. Education in the American tradition was important to him, and he believed that would give his sons a leg up and flexibility to survive in a very competitive world. I thank him for this early decision because it did make a difference for me.
Lucy Peros is a retired schoolteacher, having taught at St. Anthony Grade School and Waihe‘e Elementary School. Her late parents, Elpidio Cachero Cabalo (a 1946 Sakada) and Alejandra Cabudoy Cabalo both worked for Maui Land and Pine Company. Lucy enjoys being with other retirees in the Enhance Fitness Program under the Department of Aging three times a week. Whenever she can, she joins other Waihe‘e School retirees when help is needed at the school. Lucy also devotes some of her time as Lector and choir member at both Christ The King Catholic Church in Kahului and St. Ann Catholic Church in Waihe‘e. She enjoys being with her granddaughters after school. She also enjoys writing, reading and gardening in her spare time.