Misty Hironaka was born and raised on the island of Oahu, so she is a natural at making Tripler Army Medical Center Fisher House guests feel right at home in Honolulu, Hawaii. Early in her career, she lived overseas in both Okinawa and Tokyo, Japan where she was a lodging manager at Kadena and Yokota Air Bases and has since traveled extensively around the world.

Some of her favorite adventures are climbing Mount Fuji in Japan; a safari in South Africa; walking along the Mekong River in Vietnam; visiting Batu caves in Kuala Lumpur; eating Chinese food in both Hong Kong and Singapore; sharing a cultural dance in Laos; and swimming with sharks in Niihau.

In 2015, Misty finished a long-term adventure and retired from civil service after serving both the Air Force and the Navy for 31 years as a lodging manager. Her husband, Peter, already retired as a Honolulu police sergeant, enjoyed spending time with their three children and seven grandchildren. Both Misty and her husband still wanted to do more and went back to work. While working as the guest service manager at the Airport Honolulu Hotel, Misty learned about Fisher House.

“I was looking for exactly this. I was looking for purpose. I was looking for more life experience. And so much, I wanted to help more, more than earn,” Misty explained. “And the rest is history. Now you guys are stuck with me!”

She started at Fisher House on August 8, 2019, and, just seven months later, found herself helping stranded guests who couldn’t leave because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. Many guests of the Fisher House in Hawaii travel from Guam or American Samoa and were unable to return home.

“So many of the American Samoa veterans that were receiving treatment were stuck here, and so that’s who filled up my two houses,” she explained about the quarantine. “Because people couldn’t come or go, we also didn’t have to turn folks away.”

“We stayed busy, and it helped the learning curve a lot, but it also gave me an opportunity to really get into the intricacies of learning this operation versus my hotel management background.”

One visitor during this time was Joe Simonet. Joe and his parents had been traveling around Japan in December 2019 when his father, a veteran, took ill. They found themselves at Fisher House when the pandemic began and were able to quarantine together during his father’s final days. Misty described how grateful he was when he first arrived and how much he still means to her after a recent visit to his father’s final resting place. For the full story, visit https://bit.ly/FHWellLived.

“He is my fondest memory so far,” she said.

Misty is a six-year cancer survivor, which is just one example of what a strong and brave person she is. She also finished a 42-mile crossing from Molokai to Oahu in a six-man canoe and danced Hula on Merrie Monarch stage in Hilo, Hawaii.

Aside from her work with Fisher House, Misty stays busy with her grandchildren and her four “fur babies,” who she said provide unconditional love.

She shares her strength and a similar unconditional love of people with her Fisher House guests.