(May 24, 2008 - December 17, 2012) (his death)
n May 24, 2008, he married Irene Hirano in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills, California. Hirano was president and founding chief executive officer of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California. She resigned the position at the time of her marriage in order to be closer to her husband. According to the Honolulu Advertiser, Inouye was twenty-four years older than Hirano. On May 27, 2010, Hirano was elected chair of the nation's second largest non-profit organization, The Ford Foundation. Inouye's son Kenny was the guitarist for influential D.C. hardcore punk band Marginal Man.