Remembering Ade Kido....

Ade was born on August 17, 1937, in Honolulu, Hawaii.  (Yes, you finally get to know his age!)  From the very beginning, he was a rambunctious kid, always finding ways to stir up a little mischief.

Case in point: Ade and a friend once decided to do donuts in the sugarcane fields—just for fun.  Locals were convinced aliens had created the “crop circles,” and the crop circle story even made the newspaper!

His first near-death experience came early, when he and a friend were swept off an iron bridge by a rogue wave. Caught in a powerful undertow, they barely made it out alive.

By then, Ade was becoming quite well known on the island.  In fact, the local police took up a collection to buy him a plane ticket to Los Angeles.  How kind of them to send him on vacation!  They even escorted him to the tarmac, waving goodbye as he walked up the stairs to the plane.  The flight attendants were puzzled by the star treatment—until they noticed he had a one-way ticket.  Alohaaaaaa!

Ade landed at his sister’s home for a hot minute before parting ways and finding himself sleeping on a brick wall outside a home in Los Angeles.  He stayed there for quite a while, until Betty took pity on him and invited him to stay in the attic.  Thus began a beautiful friendship with Uncle Vinny and Aunty Betty.

Eventually, Ade decided it was time to become an upstanding citizen.  He became a mechanic for Chevrolet dealerships—primarily Martin Chevrolet in Torrance—until a fateful day when a 200 lb truck tire fell from a truck on a hydraulic lift, crushing multiple bones in his neck, ribs, arms, and legs. This marked his second near-death experience and left him living with constant pain from that day forward.

“Disabled” life, however, was far too boring for Ade.  So he jumped into sports.  He coached softball and basketball for a 35+ men’s league called HAA (Hawaiian Athletic Association).  Truth be told, it was more of a social excuse for the players to drink beer and eat pupus than to get exercise.

From there, Ade coached his daughters’ softball and basketball teams and later met the illustrious Izzy Washington of Slam ’N Jam fame.  The two became fast friends and colleagues.  Ade handled season and tournament schedules while the daughters kept score—it was truly a family affair.

Concurrently, he became assistant boys’ basketball coach at Gardena High alongside Coach Aoki.  From there, he moved on to boys’ basketball at Southgate High, girls’ basketball at Fremont High, and boys’ basketball at Carson High with Coach Masson.

He also worked with Joe Keller of Phenom America on basketball camps and tournaments, as well as with the Next Step Basketball SPD organization.

Eventually, Ade transitioned into private coaching. Many of his players went on to college and even the NBA, including James and Schea Cotton, Brett Cox, Kevin Augustine, Robin and Brook Lopez—among hundreds of other athletes whose lives he touched.

Helping others was Ade’s life mission. Whether he was putting a smile on someone’s face, performing energy healings, or coaching from the sidelines, his legacy lives on in countless hearts.

On December 12, 2024, Ade experienced one of his notorious migraine/vertigo episodes and took a hard fall onto the floor, sustaining a serious brain trauma injury.  He spent a month in the hospital, where Chris later learned this had been Ade’s third near-death experience—records show he had coded in the ER.  Ever the stubborn fighter, Ade was determined to walk out of that hospital… and he did!!

He was then gifted a full year of bonus time before finally succumbing to kidney cancer under the auspicious full supermoon of December 4, 2025.  During his hospital stay the year before, Ade spoke of seeing angels who told him three extra lives were all he had—after that, it would be time to go Home.

The angels kept their word.  Heaven could use a little mischief.

Rest in peace and play on, Ade.  You are deeply loved and forever missed.

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