PIONEER – FOOTBALL

Thomas Ka’awai Ka’ulukukui graduated from Hilo High School in 1932. He enrolled at the University of Hawaii and earned 17 letters in five years.

He was a mere 5 feet 5 inches and 145 pounds. Grantland Rice honorably mentioned Ka’ulukukui on his 1935 All-American team after watching him run back a kickoff 101 yards against UCLA at the Los Angeles Coliseum. He was head football coach at the University of Hawai’i from 1945 – 1950.

He was U.S. Marshall of Hawai’i in 1969 and was elected to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in 1980, serving as chairman in 1989.

He was inducted into the University of Hawai’i Sports Circle of Honor in 1981 and, in December 1990, received the Mackay Yanagisawa Lifetime Achievement Award.

BORN 1913

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