■ Past member of the Alii Holo Kai (AHK) dive club and legendary free-dive spear fisherman Thomas Keith “Tom” Parker of Kahalu‘u, Hawai‘i, died on August 25, 2006, at the age of 50.
Tom was born in Portland, Oregon. After falling in love with a local gal and the islands, he decided to settle and make Hawai‘i his home. I briefly met Tom’s wife, Lei, once at a gathering at Sonny Tanabe’s beach home in Kona, but never got to meet any of his three sons, Duane, Kevin and Bo. I can tell you that Tom was daring, good fun and a nice guy to hang with. Whenever I think of Tom, I picture him wearing jeans or shorts, slippers and a tank top, cruising on his Harley. That was…
