INCIONG, RODNEY

Rodney Kaipo Inciong of Kula, Maui passed peacefully on March 9, 2022 while at home under hospice care, with his family by his side. A quote by Wm. Wordsworth says “The best portion of a good man’s life is his little nameless, unencumbered acts of kindness and of love.” Rodney shared his aloha to many near and far with either a smile, joke, and helping hand.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Gloria; sons Rodney K. Inciong Jr., Texas; and Barry (Denice) Inciong of California; brothers Joe (Nancy) Big Island and Morris (Frieda) of Maui; Rodney is predeceased by his parents and his sister, Lorraine Vincent.

Born in Lahaina, Maui September 29, 1941 to Joseph Inciong and Ayako Dorothy Kitashima, his family moved to Pauwela when he was three. He attended Haiku School and Maui HS at Hamakuapoko where he graduated with the Class of 1959. His classmates continued to be lifelong friends.

After graduating he joined the Navy, trained in Memphis TN as an aviation electronic technician and while there, he played the trumpet in the Navy Volunteer Band. He served on the anti-submarine aircraft carrier USS Yorktown “The Fighting Lady” in the Western Pacific. When discharged from the Navy, he stayed in the Los Angeles area working and taking college courses at night. He met his wife, Gloria, on the tennis courts in Pasadena. They later married, started a family, and moved to Baldwin Park CA. Using the GI Bill, Rodney attended Cal Poly Pomona and graduated in 1971 with an electrical engineering degree. After graduation, the family moved to Maui settling in Wailuku Sugar Mill Camp. He began working at Fuku Construction, followed by Maui Electric and Maui County Dept of Water Supply.

In 1975 he received his Professional Engineering license for Hawaii and in 1979 he started his own business “Inciong Electrical Consultants”. In early 1980s he was one of the first engineers on Maui to begin using the computer-aided design program and this enabled him to take on many more projects. He enjoyed working with his clients both on and off the island. He was a past member of the Maui Chapter of Hawaii State Professional Engineers and helped with their projects of Math Counts and Career Shadowing. He retired in 2012 and closed his business.

Through the years, he volunteered with different groups including Cub Scouts, MYSO soccer, Band Booster clubs for Kula School and Maui HS. He was a past member and director of Maui Jaycees, Haiku Living Legacy Project and “Friends of Old Maui High School” organization. When he was asked to be co-chair of the 2007 Old MHS Reunion at the H’Poko campus, he felt it was a way he could give back to the school. When interviewed as co-chair regarding people who had attended Old MHS, Rodney stated “We came from humble backgrounds where people didn’t know anything else but living together, living off the land and working together.”

Rodney served as adult church choir director and greeter for Pukalani Baptist Church.
He was a member of Pukana O’ Kanialama and attended many of the ohana reunions. He played tennis for many years but later put away his racket and picked up a mallet to start playing gateball at Kula Community center. He enjoyed growing vegetables, flowers and processing his coffee beans from his “One Tree Plantation” and sharing them with others. When his illness prevented him from doing yard work, he would still go in the front yard and cut protea to give to anyone who came to the house. Traveling was one of the things that Rodney enjoyed the most in his retirement years and his favorite mode of travel was cruise ships. He and Gloria were able to travel to many different countries. A highlight for them was touring Israel where they renewed their marriage vows at the same church in Cana where Jesus attended a wedding and performed his first miracle.

Services will be held at Maui Veterans Cemetery in Makawao on April 8 at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers or koden, you may wish to make a donation to “Feed My Sheep”-Maui or Hospice Maui.