Paul J. Finazzo, a former president and chief executive of Hawaiian Airlines, died Wednesday in Miami. He was 79.

He died after a three-week battle from complications from a fractured hip, said his daughter, Maria Finazzo.

“;My dad was such a wonderful man, and a wonderful father and grandfather and loving friend,”; she said. “;He was just a fun guy to be around. He was just full of life and personality, and we are going to miss him dearly.”;

Paul Finazzo joined Hawaiian as president and chief operating officer in 1982 and was named CEO in 1984, according to Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner. He left the company in 1989, said Maria Finazzo, who worked at Hawaiian for 20 years as a pilot.

“;We are always saddened at the passing of a member of the Hawaiian Airlines ohana, and we extend our condolences to the entire Finazzo family,”; Wagner said.

Paul Finazzo was born Sept. 6, 1929, in Queens, N.Y., to Sicilian-immigrant parents, Nicolo and Giuseppina Finazzo, who are deceased.

He grew up in Wyandotte, Mich., where he married his childhood sweetheart, Joann Palazzolo.

In high school he was a tenacious amateur boxer. He was a graduate of Wayne State University, attained the rank of colonel in the ROTC, and entered the United States Air Force as a lieutenant, according to a statement from the Finazzo family. He was assigned as an officer to the Air Intelligence Service Squadron, a unit of highly-trained paratroopers responsible for the covert investigation of downed enemy aircraft.

Upon honorable discharge from the Air Force in 1956, he joined Flying Tiger Line, a Los Angeles-based cargo airline, where he worked his way up from salesman to regional sales director. In 1968 he became vice president, and later president, CEO and chairman of Miami-based cargo carrier Airlift International.

He also presided as commissioner over the first Aloha State Games, an Olympics-style event for Hawaii athletes, and served on the board of Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. In 1991 he became chairman of the Dollar Rent-A-Car franchise in Honolulu.

He returned to Miami in 1993 and was named president of Charlotte, N.C.-based cargo carrier Tradewinds Airlines, his third airline presidency. He retired in 1998 in Florida.

“;His last job was unquestionably his greatest accomplishment—loving grandpa,”; the family statement said.

Finazzo is survived by wife Joann, who he was married to for 54 years, and children Josephine Finazzo, Nicolas Finazzo, Vincent Finazzo, and Maria Finazzo. Daughter Paula Finazzo is deceased. He was the brother of John Finazzo and Vincent Finazzo; and grandfather of Vincent, Joanna, Dillon, Colleen, Cody, Paul, Hunter, Nicole, Michael, Julia and Alexis.

Funeral services will be held at Stanfill Funeral Homes in Miami tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. A funeral mass will be held at the Saint Richard Catholic Church in Miami on Monday at 10 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made to the University of Miami School of Medicine.