Archives for obituary

Natatorium backer, Friends leader Ron Yasui has died

08-Apr-14 | 4 Comments

A memorial service will be held this Saturday, April 12, for one of the Friends of the Natatorium’s first members and most dedicated activists, Ron Yasui. Ron died March 15 at age 78. A 1953 St Louis School graduate, Ronald Hiroshi Yasui joined the Marine Corps after high school and served in combat during the Korean War. After the war, he had a long career as an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration. “Ron was a gung-ho Marine and always for the underdog,” his younger brother Byron recalls. “He was that kind of guy.” Natatorium Activist Ron channeled
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Categories: Friends of the Natatorium, Uncategorized, and Veterans.
Tags: obituary, Peter Apo, Ron Yasui, and Ronald Yasui.

Olympic champ/Natatorium friend Bill Smith has died

03-Mar-13 | Comments Off on Olympic champ/Natatorium friend Bill Smith has died

Sad news: Olympic gold medal swimmer and Hawai’i hero Bill Smith – a world record holder whose first competitive swimming experiences were in the waters of the Waikiki Natatorium – has died. Bill was 88 when he passed away Feb. 8, his family with him. Considered the world’s greatest swimmer for virtually all of the 1940s, William Melvin Smith was 15 when he started his competitive career at the Natatorium in 1939. Just a year later, he placed second in the mile swim at the AAU Nationals in California, where he met coaching legend Soichi Sakamoto. He later moved to
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Categories: Friends of the Natatorium, History, and Uncategorized.
Tags: 1948 Olympic Games, Bill Smith, Friends of the Natatorium, Natatorium history, obituary, Waikiki Natatorium, and William Smith.