Unbeknownst to many Big Island residents, Mitchell’s decision some 20 years ago assured that the continuity of care that they had grown accustomed to would extend for a fourth generation.

“Without my father there to answer all of my questions, it was what you’d call a crash course.” “I still think about how I made that commitment to come back and then have my dad pass away so soon after that…at least I was able to work with him and pick up some of his knowledge.”įollowing Clifford’s death, his brother, Larry, officially assumed the title of president while Mitchell was named vice president and operations manager-ostensibly taking on the job of running the company at the tender age of 28. You don’t really have to worry,” Mitchell reflects.

“It’s different when your parents run things. He returned home in 1994 to help with the business, only to have his father pass away suddenly in 1998. Mitchell graduated from UH Hilo in 1992 and enrolled at the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science. Only as graduation loomed did he finally make up his mind as to what he would do with his life. It was not an appealing lifestyle that a young person would want to emulate.īy his third year at UHH, Mitchell decided to major in business, still leaving his career options open. No sooner had Clifford returned home when the phone would ring and he would have to go right back out again. It was him who built it up into a corporation.” From a young age, Mitchell had witnessed the long hours his father put in every day. “My father, Clifford, was very, very proud of this company. So we exposed them to all of it and then let them decide.”Īs an underclassman at UH Hilo, Mitchell recalls wanting to hang out and have fun with his friends. “I felt they should at least know what it involved, so I would bring them here. As a result, Beverly made a point of bringing her kids to the place of business. “You can imagine growing up with a name like Dodo and having to get picked up from school in a station wagon that says ‘mortuary’ on the side,” she elaborates. Mitchell’s mother, Beverly, empathized with her two children as they grew up. Mitchell and his mom Beverly in front of the company’s current facility in Wainaku, which was purchased and developed by Mitchell’s father, Clifford. “I never felt compelled to come back and work in the family business.” “My father and mother did not put pressure on me,” he says. Mitchell admits that even he was not eager to assume the responsibilities of running his family’s 117-year-old business. It requires such hard work and long hours that, as a result, most mom-and-pop operations are being acquired by large corporations.” “The next generation doesn’t want to get involved. The reason for the demise is clear, Mitchell continues. “We are one of maybe four in the nation, along with Hosoi on O‘ahu and Kubota and Fukui mortuaries in Southern California,” he observes. Although local residents-regardless of their ethnic background or religious affiliation-have long been accustomed to attending funerals at Dodo Mortuary, Mitchell reports that the number of independently owned and operated mortuaries in the United States has declined dramatically-including those owned by Japanese American families.

At least such is the case when it comes to funeral services, notes Mitchell Dodo, vice president and operations manager of Dodo Mortuary, Inc., in Hilo. What residents of Hawai‘i Island take for granted is often a rarity when viewed on a broader scale.

Dodo mortuary life plan