DAVID YALE ROCHLEN / 1924-2003

Pioneer of surfboards
and clothing dies at 78

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By Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.com

David Yale Rochlen, founder and chief executive officer of Surf Line Hawaii Ltd./Jams World, died April 13 in Hono-lulu after an eight-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 78.

Born in 1924, Rochlen first came to Hawaii in October 1947 on a surfing trip with four friends. It would be nearly 20 years before he moved to the state and began marketing his famous Jams shorts.

Today, Surf Line's casual resort wear, which has been manufactured in Hawaii since the early 1960s, can be found around the world. The company employs 110 people and has three retail outlets, one each in Honolulu, Santa Monica, Calif., and Singapore.

Rochlen was featured twice in Life magazine, once in 1965 as the focus of a photo spread on Jams and on another occasion as one of California's best-known lifeguards.

He was also recognized for his business achievements during the course of his career, receiving the Ernst & Young Hawaii Entrepreneur of the Year award in 1998.

Rochlen attended the University of California Los Angeles and earned a degree in clinical and industrial psychology. He worked as a systems analyst for missile engineering firm TRW for a number of years before moving to Hawaii in the early 1960s.

It was after his tour with the U.S. Marines in World War II that Rochlen took up surfing and became a key player in the transition from old-style surfboards to more radical boards and surfing styles. Rochlen built modern light balsa boards and was the first to put brightly colored pigment stripes into the boards' plastic skins.

Rochlen's youngest son, Pua, now president of Surf Line Hawaii/Jams World, said his father remained active in the business until he died.

"He never really retired, he went until the end," Pua Rochlen said.

Robert Springston, national sales manager for the company, described Rochlen as "a man of great integrity."

"He impacted many lives in a positive way. He will be sorely missed," he said.

Rochlen is survived by his wife, Keanuenue, and five children, Pua, Haunani, Kootchie, Mark and Nohea.

Services were scheduled for 9 a.m. today at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.