After leaving the Navy in 1962, Mr. Kerr went to work as an attorney for Henshaw, Conroy and Hamilton, where he became a partner. In 1970, along with Ed Chun and Bill Dodd, he founded the firm today known as Chun, Kerr, Dodd, Beaman & Wong. Mr. Kerr specialized in business, corporate, securities and financial institutions law, and was one of Hawaii's leading authorities in these areas. He received an "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory, and was also named in The Best Lawyers in America as one of only seven Hawaii lawyers in that publication's section on Corporate law.
Over a 20-year period, Mr. Kerr served as an arbitrator for securities and arbitration associations. He taught Securities Regulation Law at the University of Hawaii School of Law from 1975-1976 as a visiting professor. He had also been an instructor in English, German, Commercial Law and Real Estate Law for the American Institute of Banking, U.S. Armed Forces Institute and others from 1960 to 1974. He was a member of the Hawaii State, New York State and American Bar Associations and was admitted to practice before all Hawaii courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mr. Kerr spent 24 years as a trustee of Le Jardin Academy in Kailua, and chaired the Board of Trustees from 1975 to 1987. He served as a moderator of Central Union Church from 1976-1977, and in 1997 was elected a trustee. He served on the board of directors of the Hawaii Conference United Church of Christ from 1976-1979, and was chairman in 1978-1979. He also was finance chairman of the Republican Party of Hawaii from 1991-1994.
Diagnosed with prostate cancer in January 1994, George devoted himself to helping other men with the disease. From 1995 until his death, he was regional director for US TOO! International, a prostate cancer support group network. He headed two prostate cancer support groups on Oahu, and started other groups on Maui and Kauai. In 1997, the American Cancer Society honored him with its Patient Service Award for his volunteer work. George died on August 20, 1998, at Saint Francis Hospice in Honolulu, just eleven days after being interviewed for a TV documentary on prostate cancer. The hour-long program was nationally broadcast on public television stations in June, 1999.
George Kerr's death is a great loss to our firm, to the legal community, and to his wife, Elspeth ("Eppie"), and his two children, Keoki and Sissy. His intelligence, humor, and strength of character are sorely missed by everyone who knew him.
