WWII veteran facing eviction from his lifetime home Tadeo Suemori has lived most of his 78 years on Kaua’i. Suemori, who turns 79 next month, still lives in the Lihu’e house he was born in, at the end of Kalena
WWII veteran facing eviction from his lifetime home
Tadeo Suemori has lived most of his 78 years on Kaua’i.
Suemori, who turns 79 next month, still lives in the Lihu’e house he was born in, at the end of Kalena Street in what once was called the Rice Camp.
Suemori is the last resident on his street. He grew up there, joined the Army in World War II and came back when his service ended.
But Suemori may not be able to finish his life living alone at 2856 Kalena St. Instead, a non-profit corporation, dedicated to preserving a portion of Kauai’s heritage, may evict the son of lifetime plantation workers from the house where his parents died.
He’d been living there on a month-to-month lease, paying $400 every 30 days for that privilege for the last 30 years, when the property was sold on a warranty deed from Wm. Hyde Rice Ltd. to the Nuhou Corp. for $10 in March last year. Nuhou is a non-profit corporation that operates the Waioli Mission Home-Grove Farm Homestead on Nawiliwili Road.
On Feb. 27 this year, Nuhou gave Suemori a 45-day notice to terminate his lease and filed a court motion for summary judgment, a complaint for summary possession which was served Aug. 24.
The attorney representing Nuhou, Pamela Rask of Lihu’e, said she couldn’t talk about the case, as it was still in litigation.
But Rask did acknowledge that Nuhou had made “overtures” to Suemori.
Suemori is willing to talk about his case. He said Nuhou offered him a one-year lease at $100 per month. He turned it down. The last offer on the table, according to Suemori, was a five-year lease for $100 per month.
Suemori and Rask have been talking after appearances in Kaua’i District Court, twice in the past three weeks. Both times, Judge Trudy Senda sent the principals into mediation. But nothing was resolved.
In fact, things got worse, Suemori claimed. He said that during the mediation sessions, held behind closed doors, he was told he would be evicted in 45 days if he didn’t sign.
He said he then asked who’s fault it would be if violence resulted. That comment led to him being taken to the Kaua’i County Police Department headquarters in Lihu’e, though he was not arrested. And there is now a temporary restraining order against Suemori.
A private investigator said he has been hired to accompany Rask and Nuhou officials to the next court hearing, slated for Sept. 11.
“What is that TRO (temporary restraining order)? What does TRO mean?” Suemori asked.
When told, he laughed.
“I don’t have any weapons. I have a BB-gun, that’s all,” he said.
Why not sign a new lease? After all, it’s a rent reduction, down from $400 per month to $100 per month.
“It’s the principle,” Suemori replied. “There’s no problem with the money. But I don’t believe they really own the land.”
And unless someone can change his mind, the specter is looming of Suemori being evicted by Nuhou. That almost certainly is not a legacy any non-profit would like to leave the community Suemori has belonged to for almost eight decades, he said.
Suemori was asked what he will do if the court rules against him.
“I am not moving,” he said.
In 1989, Suemori refused to move when a Honolulu developer had slotted the area for a condominium development. The condos did not get built, but all the neighbors who had lived in the area in 1989 have died or moved. All except Suemori.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
