Neal Blaisdell

Template:Short description Template:Infobox officeholder Neal Shaw Blaisdell (November 6, 1902 – November 5, 1975) served as Mayor of Honolulu from 1955 to 1969 as a member of the Hawaii Republican Party. As chief executive of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, he oversaw one of the largest construction booms in city and county history, working closely with Governor John A. Burns. Blaisdell was the sitting mayor when Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959.

Early life

Blaisdell was born in Honolulu and had European and Hawaiian ancestry. His father was William Wallace Blaisdell II, who served as fire chief of Honolulu;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and his mother was Maliaka "Malie" Alaneao Merseberg.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A maternal great-grandfather was John Adams Cummins.<ref>Template:Hawaiian Dictionaries</ref> A paternal great-grandfather, John Blaisdell (1812–1889), came to the Hawaiian Islands from Maine in 1849.<ref>Template:Hawaiian Dictionaries</ref>

Education and athletics

Known as "Rusty", Blaisdell played basketball, football and baseball at Saint Louis School.<ref name="adv">Template:Cite news</ref> He attended the University of Hawaii and later transferred to Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he was quarterback of the school's football team, graduating in 1926. He was also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.<ref name="1927 L'Agenda">Template:Cite web</ref> He received Bucknell's Alumni Award for Meritorious Achievement in 1968. Although Blaisdell also played basketball and baseball, he was inducted into the Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 in the football category.<ref name="Neal Blaisdell-Bucknell Hall of Fame">Template:Cite web</ref> He was also a golfer, and started his day with push-ups.<ref name="adv"/> He returned to Honolulu to become a teacher, high school coach and athletic director.<ref name="Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball">Template:Cite book</ref>

Public service

Blaisdell was elected representative of the 4th district to the legislature of the Territory of Hawaii in 1945, and the territorial senate in 1947 and 1949.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1950 he ran for Mayor of Honolulu, but withdrew after suffering from tuberculosis.<ref name="adv"/>

Blaisdell ran against Frank Fasi and was elected in 1954, taking office in 1955.<ref name="Democratic Party Gains in Hawaii">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Neal Shaw Blaisdell">Template:Cite web</ref> As mayor, he oversaw the construction of the John H. Wilson Tunnels through the Koʻolau Range from Kalihi Valley; and erected the Hawaii International Center, a multipurpose complex with a concert hall, convention center, exhibition hall and sports arena.<ref name="Presstime in Paradise: The Life and Times of the Honolulu Advertiser, 1856-1995">Template:Cite book</ref> After Blaisdell's death, his successor, Fasi, renamed the complex in Blaisdell's honor; is now known as the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.

From 1965 to 1966, Blaisdell was president of the United States Conference of Mayors.<ref name="200 Mayors Support Great Society Plan">Template:Cite news</ref>

Death and legacy

Blaisdell married Lucy Thurston on October 23, 1926. Their daughter Velma Blaisdell Clark married James Kalaeone Clark and was a teacher for the Hawai`i State Department of Education. Their daughter Marilyn Blaisdell Ane married another football coach and taught at Punahou School for 28 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Blaisdell suffered a stroke while doing yard work and died on November 5, 1975, one day shy of his 73rd birthday.<ref name="adv" /> He is buried at Oahu Cemetery.<ref name="Neal Shaw Blaisdell" />

A park of Template:Convert on the shore of Pearl Harbor (at Template:Coord) was named for him.<ref>Template:Hawaiian Dictionaries</ref><ref>Template:GNIS</ref>

External links

• Template:Find a Grave