Page 3 - MidWeek East - Oct 5, 2022

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Honolulu City Council, and I find serving those who serve to be deeply rewarding.”
severe with dignity in Jap- anese,” Engle states. “The kids all graduated from Kalāheo High School and are now all adults, and we’re a tight family unit.”
look it up in the dictionary. I think that practice instilled in me my love for words, for I am a lifelong word nerd,” Engle recollects, while also mentioning that her father was a U.S. Army officer who moved their family to Pāhoa on Hawai‘i Island, where she graduated from Pāhoa Elementary and High schools.
It was not only Engle’s studiousness that helped her advance in the Kūpuna Spelling Bee, but also her perseverance.
For her win, Engle was presented with a gift certif- icate from Alaska Airlines for a round trip for two, as well as a gift certificate for a five-day/four-night stay at the California Hotel & Ca- sino in Las Vegas — a prize she looks forward to sharing with her family.
Engle’s relationship with words continued throughout her career, during which she has spent nearly 40 years in Hawai‘i media, working in radio, TV and print journal- ism.
“During one of the later rounds, some exotic zoolog- ical words were impossible. We remaining contestants were flummoxed,” Engle recalls. “It was a huge relief to learn, in the later rounds, that a single misspelling did not necessarily mean I was eliminated.”
“The kids and I will up- grade and meet up with my daughter, who lives in Ari- zona, to make a family va- cation of the prize. I’m not much of a gambler, so my Vegas dream is to eat great food and make lifelong, hap- py memories,” Engle con- cludes.
“I also worked in mar- keting and advertising, as well as freelance voice-over work, writing and editing,” she adds. “I am now the com- munications officer for the
In Engle’s lifetime, les- sons of perseverance have been ingrained — whether when she and her husband lost their morning show job on a radio station with four children to feed or when her husband, the late Cliff
Erika Engle and other contestants participate in the Kūpuna Spelling Bee at Ali‘iolani Elementary School, which is located in Kaimukī. PHOTO COURTESY ERIKA ENGLE
Richards, lost his 10-month and a bone marrow trans- “My children and I forged battle with leukemia after plant from his perfect-match on, because that’s what one treatment, remission, relapse younger sister. does: gaman, meaning per-
OCTOBER 5, 2022 3
East O‘ahu Elementary School Hosts ‘Buzzing’ Spelling Bee For Local Kūpuna
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