Emme tomimbang biography definition

  • A University of Hawaiʻi alumna, Tomimbang, 73, was a trailblazer in the Filipino community and a pioneer in radio and television in Hawaiʻi.
  • Emme Tomimbang was raised in Kalihi, Kaka'ako and Chinatown by her single father, Eutiquio.
  • Emme is a veteran broadcaster, with more than 35 years of experience in media.

    • •

    HONOLULU (Hawaii News Now) - For thirty years, Emme Tomimbang shared "Island Moments" with viewers, but the TV star's defining moment came off camera with back to back health crises.

    "I found out my husband had stage 4 throat cancer" says Emme. "About 6 to 9 months later, I had a brain aneurysm. I cheated death."

    Her husband Jim Burns recalls not knowing if she would survive, "Cross your fingers and hope as she comes out of it and say well looks pretty good."

    Before Emme's own life was on the line, she was her husband's lifeline. She showed us the equipment she used to tube him, adding "This was his survival for 9 months because he couldn't eat anything. I always felt like I was going to fail and it was torturing to think this is my husband's life."

    Emme's plate was full, caregiving for her mom too, while working on her last special, Hawaii Five-O Revisited. It was a vicious cycle. She describes her hectic schedule. "Late night, early in morning, then get few hours sleep. Th

    •

    by Edwin Quinabo

    Emme Tomimbang Burns, a veteran broadcast journalist, passed away while undergoing open heart surgery at the Queen’s Medical Center on Feb. 19, 2024.

    Considered by many as a trailblazer for women and the Filipino community, Emme paved the way for a new era of greater diversity in local Hawaii media.  The media icon’s career spanned decades – her face and voice recognizable as she’s broadcasted news and interviews at various TV and radio stations.

    Emme was also an entrepreneur with her own production company, Emme Tomimbang Multi-Media Enterprises. She produced the popular Emme’s Island Moments that had a run for more than 20 years. By the time that program was launched, Emme was already a household name, which helped her to attract sponsors and land inspiring guests to interview.

    Her many highly visible projects over the decades cemented her as a local celebrity. When the name Emme was mentioned as a project participant, everyone knew it to mean it was Emm

  • emme tomimbang biography definition

    • •

    Hawaiʻi broadcast veteran Emmeline Tomimbang Burns, fondly known as “Emme,” died on February 19, at the Queen’s Medical Center during emergency aortic surgery. A University of Hawaiʻi alumna, Tomimbang, 73, was a trailblazer in the Filipino community and a pionjär in radio and television in Hawaiʻi.

    Breaking barriers for local women, she hosted her own radio show on KNDI in her teens, interviewed international celebrities at KITV, launched the Morning News on KHON Channel 2, and founded her own production company, Emme Tomimbang Multi-Media Enterprises (EMME, Inc.).

    She was the widow of the late Supreme Court of Appeals ledare Judge James S. Burns, son of Hawaiʻi Governor John A. Burns, after whom the UH medical school fryst vatten named.


    Pivotal educational experience, upbringing

    Reflecting on her educational journey, Tomimbang expressed gratitude for her time at UH, a pivotal