Executive knew the
Y from A to Z

Robert R. Dye / Ymca Leader

SEE ALSO: OBITUARIES

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By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.com

Robert R. Dye recalled a few years ago that he discovered "this wonderful building on the corner of Hotel and Alakea streets ... with all the things kids like to do. It was called a YMCA and it became my second home."

That was when he was 9. Dye spent more than 50 years of his life making the Y as meaningful to others as it was to him on a local, national and international level.

Dye, 80, died Wednesday morning at his Honolulu home.

Don Anderson, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Honolulu and a friend of Dye's for more than 30 years, said Dye's accomplishments were "absolutely incredible, but of real importance was how he touched people one at a time. He was the most caring, Christian, gentle man. I never heard an angry word or heard him talk stink about anyone. I couldn't imagine anyone not connecting with and liking Bob."

Dye had said he most remembered the "kind and loving people" who staffed the Y while growing up, calling the volunteers "a special breed." He later became a mentor to most of the organization's leadership, and "he made us all so much better," Anderson said.

Dye was the first Hawaii resident to be inducted into the YMCA Hall of Fame, in 1998. He most recently received, among his numerable honors, the Hawaii Peacemaker Award on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for his lifelong commitment to peace and justice.

After his stint in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II, he took his first job with the Y in 1946 in Los Angeles. In 1951 he went back to Hawaii to serve as executive director of the Nuuanu Y. In 1960 he became chief executive officer of the Honolulu Y, the first island-born person to hold this position, rebuilt the downtown branch and added two new branches.

During the 1960s and '70s, he initiated several innovative programs in the urban jungles of New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta that alleviated racial tension. His work to initiate a six-week dialogue between police and street youths in Buffalo, N.Y., became a model for other inner cities.

In 1983 he joined the World Alliance of YMCAs in Geneva, Switzerland, in its peace efforts and served as its liaison with the United Nations.

In 1987, Dye retired but served as a full-time volunteer, Anderson said.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Esther; daughters Lee Takagi and Christiane Owren-Heurich; sons Peter, Gregg and Mark; and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the Church of the Crossroads, March 10 at 4:30 p.m.