In passing

Hiram L. Fong, 97, pioneering senator

Honolulu Hiram L. Fong, a son of immigrants who overcame poverty to become a millionaire businessman and the first Asian American elected to the U.S. Senate, died Wednesday. He was 97.

Fong, a Republican, died at home with his wife, Ellyn, and daughter Merie-Ellen Fong Gushi at his side, said Maureen Lichter, spokeswoman for Finance Factors, a financial company Fong founded.

Once a shoeshine boy, Fong rose from the slums of Honolulu to the U.S. Senate, where he served almost 18 years. He also served as president of nine companies.

Fong was elected one of Hawaii’s first two senators in 1959, and remains the only Republican senator the state has had. He was re-elected twice and retired in 1977.

Civil rights were a focus of Fong’s Senate career. His amendment to a civil rights bill required auditors at polling places to assure minority voting rights, he said.

Fong also co-sponsored a 1965 bill assuring Asians would be allowed to immigrate in similar numbers as people from other continents.

Pete Dobrovitz, 51, kidney recipient

Rochester, N.Y. Pete Dobrovitz, a former TV reporter who underwent a lifesaving, living-donor kidney transplant in 2002 after placing a classified ad in a newspaper that read “WANTED: Your Spare Kidney,” died Tuesday of complications from food poisoning, his family said. He was 51.

Dobrovitz had two cadaver-kidney transplants in the 1980s that eventually failed.

A stranger stepped forward in 2001 after reading about Dobrovitz’s plight and turned out to be an ideal tissue match. Donor Steve Aman had attended the same Catholic school as Dobrovitz in the 1960s, but they never knew each other.

One detail in the ad caught Aman’s eye – Dobrovitz ran Rochester’s Big Brothers-Big Sisters chapter, a child-mentor program where Aman had once volunteered.

Born with kidney ailments, Dobrovitz had his first transplant in 1983. The donor kidney stopped functioning 18 months later, but dialysis three times a week kept him alive. Another kidney transplanted in 1987 gave out in 1995.

Acquanetta, 83, B-movie actress

Phoenix Acquanetta, a B-movie actress best known for her role in the 1946 film “Tarzan and the Leopard Woman,” died Monday. She was 83.

The former New York model, who was born Burnu Acquanetta, used only her last name as her film career grew. She also had roles in “Arabian Nights,” “Captive Wild Woman” and “The Sword of Monte Cristo.”

She married Los Angeles businessman Jack Ross in the late 1950s. They moved to Arizona where he became a successful automobile dealer in Phoenix.

Acquanetta – known for her braided black hair, unusual widow’s peak and flamboyant turquoise jewelry – starred in radio and TV commercials for her husband’s car dealership and became a socialite and philanthropist.

She donated money to help build a hospital in Mesa, founded a theater in Scottsdale and raised money for the Phoenix Symphony.

The couple had four children before divorcing in the 1980s.

Rose Naranjo, 89, traditional potter

Santa Clara Pueblo, N.M Rose Naranjo, a traditional Santa Clara potter who was named a Santa Fe Living Treasure in 1994, died Monday at her home, her son said. She was 89.

Naranjo received a lifetime achievement award in 2001 from the Southwest Association of Indian Arts for her contributions to American Indian art.

She and her husband, Michael Naranjo, were missionaries from 1954 to 1976 in Santa Clara Pueblo and Taos for the Southern Baptist Convention.

Her son said she encouraged all 10 of her children to attend college, and some pursued post-graduate degrees.