Family physician David Lee Pang saw generations of immigrants walk through the doors of his Nu'uanu Avenue clinic for half a century, never turning away anyone regardless of ability to pay.

The humble, soft-spoken son of immigrant farmers who became one of the most respected leaders in the Chinese community, died at his home March 21. He was 95.

Stanford Yuen, a member of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, described Pang as "larger than life" and a lifelong mentor.

"I remember him talking about his patients; many of them couldn't speak English and needed financial assistance," Yuen said. "He told me a lot of them could not pay but it was his duty to help and get them back on their feet."

Pang's work won respect from the Chinese and the medical communities in Hawai'i. In 1997, he was named Chinese Father of the Year by the United Chinese Chamber. In 2002, the Hawai'i Medical Association honored him as its Physician of the Year.

Betsy Tao, who worked at the clinic for 42 years, said it wasn't until later years that his staff was able to convince him to send collectors to track down outstanding debts.

Many patients who carried no medical insurance and couldn't pay brought fruits and vegetables to the clinic, Tao said. "He was just that kind of person to help others, he always thought about other people," she said.

Dr. Bernard W.D. Fong, a retired cardiologist, said Pang helped fill a void at a time when immigration laws were being relaxed and more immigrants came to Hawai'i.

Through the 1950s and early 1960s, "the Medicaid and Medicare programs had not been enacted and mandatory employee health insurance for full-time workers had not been legislated," Fong said. "As a result, many immigrant patients were medically indigent, relying on the charitable works of physicians like Dr. Pang or the charitable clinics in the larger hospitals for their care."

Pang recruited Fong and a cadre of other specialists to help patients needing more advanced help. "We were all very community-oriented, soft-hearted and entered medicine primarily to serve," Fong said.

Lani Dunn, who did clerical work for the clinic, said the Cantonese-speaking Pang regularly made house calls — many to ailing, elderly Chinese women who lived in tiny Chinatown apartments.

While it may not be acceptable today, Dunn said, Pang would keep such visits off the books, even taking medicine from the clinic to help the indigent patients.

The doctor was so lax in accepting payments that many patients who could pay would take advantage of his kindness, she said.

The son of immigrant farmers, Pang grew up in the 'Ena Road area of Waikiki. According to Brian Pang, the doctor's son: "He would ride with his father on a horse-drawn slop wagon, collecting slop to feed pigs that his family would raise."

He graduated from McKinley High School and the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. In 1932, he earned his passage aboard a passenger liner that would take him to the Mainland by stoking coal aboard the ship.

Upon graduating from the Loyola University Strich School of Medicine in Chicago, Pang returned home. He joined the Army Medical Corps, where he served six years, and was in service the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. Later, he was with Gen. Douglas MacArthur when U.S. troops recaptured the Philippine island of Leyte.

As his medical practice grew, Pang began to make a name for himself in the Chinese community.

Pang is survived by his wife, Betty Ching; sons Gerald M.K. and Brian M.C.; daughters Linda Y.S. and Sharon O.L. ; sisters Nani Younse and Dorothy Fong; and three grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on April 15 at the Community Church of Honolulu, at 2345 Nu'uanu Ave. A service will start at 10:30. Casual attire. The family requests no flowers. The burial will be private.