It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Bill. I first met Bill in 1984 when I joined Goodenow Associates’ sister company, Safeguard Services, Inc. I was new to private investigations, having spent a couple of years with IRS before joining the private sector. On my first fraud investigation, Bill was asked to go with me out to Waianae and oversee my interview of the elderly victim. We drove out there and Bill let me proceed with the interview and patiently showed me how to take down a thorough written statement. When I taught many younger investigators over the years how to do the same task for the first time, I warmly remembered Bill’s positive approach and gentle steering.
Over the next dozen or so years I had only a few occasions to work cases directly with Bill, although until he moved to Maui we saw each other frequently around the office and the communal lunch table. I came to enjoy Bill’s kolohe sense of humor, no nonsense manner, and proud professionalism. In 1997-98 we worked together very closely along with others from the office on the biggest investigation in our careers: the Attorney General’s Bishop Estate inquiry. When I heard that Bill was being asked to commute from Maui I felt reassured that we would have another steady heavy hitter on the team. It was a long and difficult investigation and Bill’s judgement, “no scared ‘em” attitude, irreverence, and willingness to work long hours were valued by all of us. We worked together for about nine months, pulling fifty to seventy hour weeks along with the rest of the team. After that time we were assigned to separate civil and criminal work groups, and were unfortunately prohibited from sharing information and time together, as the larger Bishop Estate case inched along. In the end a proper result came about, in very large part due to the work that Bill put in. I was proud to toil with him, and told him so when we wrapped things up.
It was many a Monday morning that Bill showed up with Guri Guri or Komoda’s Cream Puffs for his little-deserving, but ever grateful, Honolulu colleagues. Bill will be missed as a consummate professional, proud Hawaiian, and man of generous spirit. He made a difference in my life, and I am saddened that world is now missing his wry wit and verve.
With great respect,
John Tsukayama
