Early Life
Ellison Onizuka was the oldest son and second youngest child of the late Masamitsu and Mitsue Onizuka. He had two older sisters, Shirley and Norma, and a younger brother, Claude. Claude became the family spokesman when Ellison attained fame as an astronaut and continued after the Challenger accident.Growing up, Ellison was an active participant in 4-H and the Boy Scouts, where he reached the level of Eagle Scout.
He graduated from Konawaena High School in Kealakekua in 1964. He received a Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering in June 1969, and a Master's in that field in December of the same year, from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He participated in Air Force ROTC during his time there and is an alumnus of Triangle Fraternity.
Onizuka married Lorna Leiko Yoshida on June 7, 1969, while completing his studies at the University of Colorado. They had two daughters, Janelle Onizuka-Gillilan (b. 1969) and Darien Lei Shizue Onizuka-Morgan (b. 1975).
Read more about this topic: Ellison Onizuka
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“Names on a list, whose faces I do not recall
But they are gone to early death, who late in school
Distinguished the belt feed lever from the belt holding pawl.”
—Richard Eberhart (b. 1904)
“There are two births: the one when light
First strikes the new awakened sense;
The other when two souls unite,
And we must count our life from thence,
When you loved me and I loved you,
Then both of us were born anew.”
—William Cartwright (1611–1643)