Honors for Alice Hirai September 27, 2010 Hooray for Hirai ERIN HOOLEY/Standard-Examiner Alice Hirai received the Citizen of the Year award from the Ogden City Mayor's Multicultural Advisory Committee and holds the plaque at her home in Ogden on Thursday. Nurse, volunteer chosen as Citizen of the Year By JAMIE LAMPROS Standard-Examiner correspondent OGDEN — Alice Setsuko Hirai's parents, Takasaburo and Lillian Sekino, taught their children to become responsible, successful adults. So Hirai went out into the world and was just that kind of person. Because of her responsibility and success in her community, Hirai was recently named Citizen of the Year during Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey's Multicultural Advisory Committee retreat. Hirai said she is honored to receive the award even though she doesn't think she's any more special than the next person. "It is quite an honor, because I don't do anything special," she FACES said. "I just do my job and volunteer along with my colleagues. But I love Ogden. Ogden is unique because, as a community, we accomplish goals to improve medical access...." Hirai was born in San Francisco and moved to Salt Lake City when she was young. In 1962 the family moved to the Ogden area, where she has remained. She is the mother of three and grandmother of two. She said she loves those roles more than anything. Her husband, Mack, died in 1987 at the age of 47 during 202 surgery. During her schooling, Hirai decided she wanted to become a nurse because she enjoyed helping others. She is currently a registered nurse for Aging Services for Weber Human Services, specializing in preventive care. In her job, she makes the rounds to 10 senior centers to check blood pressure and monitor heart rates. She has also worked as a public health nurse, hospital nurse and school nurse. "Every day is an adventure," she said. "It is an honorable profession where patients put their trust and lives into our hands to treat them to get better, and we respect their trust." Hirai also has been volunteering