Shizuko Hasegawa, part of the second generation to own and operate the famous Hana, Maui, general store bearing the family name, died June 18. She was 95.

Hasegawa, 95, first came to the Hasegawa General Store as the young bride of new owner Toshimasa Hasegawa, said Harry Hasegawa, her oldest son.

The store was originally owned by Toshimasa Hasegawa's father, who sold it to a brother and returned to Hiroshima, Japan, with his family, including Toshimasa, Harry Hasegawa said.

The uncle, Saburo Hasegawa, brought Toshimasa Hasegawa back to Hana with the intention of selling him the business but first arranged a marriage for him, Harry Hasegawa said. He said his mother was born Sept. 1, 1913, in Mo'ili'ili but was raised in Hiroshima.

"My father's uncle was a wise man and he knew people," Harry Hasegawa said. "My dad was too easygoing, so he must have said, 'Let's get somebody who can shape him up.' "

Shizuko Hasegawa was always the disciplinarian, while her husband was more relaxed, Harry Hasegawa said.

She also was able to communicate with plantation workers, picking up enough of their languages to ask them what they wanted.

"She would write it all down in her broken English and then we'd deliver it," Harry Hasegawa said. Back then, the store had to offer delivery service to compete with the plantation store, he said.

The uncle trained the young couple and, when he was satisfied they could take over, he returned to Hiroshima with his family, Harry Hasegawa said.

The uncle told them, "I know how hard it is to make money — don't pay me now, pay me when you can or I'll call you and tell you when I need the money."

Not long after that, World War II broke out. The families were cut off from each other but it was also a time of prosperity for the store as the new customers in uniforms gave them a glimpse of what tourism could mean, he said.

"When the GIs came in, they were the first people that were different from us," Harry Hasegawa said. "My dad would say that's when he could see some profits."

And that was good for the family — because when the war ended, they were asked to send money to Japan and they sent food, sugar and coffee as well, he said.

"My mom worked all the way through and raised four boys," Harry Hasegawa said.

Everyone in Hana knew the Hasegawas and many of the youths worked there, said Valorey Ng, an executive assistant at the Hotel Hana Maui.

Ng, 49, said she remembers the store of her youth which burned down in the 1990s. It was rebuilt and it still provides a wide range of items not just for tourists but for the whole community, and Shizuko Hasegawa was always part of that, Ng said.

"A lot of people cannot make it to town (a two-hour drive) where the Costco and Wal-Marts are," Ng said. "If there's something they don't have, you talk to them and they're really good about bringing it in."

Shizuko Hasegawa is survived by sons Harry, Lester and Nolan; brothers Jiro and Makato Hirose; and sister Mitsuko Tamura.

Private services were held last weekend.