Al Minn was an athlete, soldier, teacher, coach, administrator, community volunteer and patriarch of a family with more than 40 descendents.
When I informed a mutual friend of his passing, his one-word response said it all.
“Legend,” texted Neil Everett.
Minn, 92, died last week Tuesday at his home in Kailua after a long illness. His wife and all five of their children were by his side.
“It’s a blessing, because he was in so much pain,” said Shirley, his wife of 67 years. “I’m sure going to miss him, but now he’s comfortable and at peace.”
Minn is most well-known in the Hawaii sports community as a swimming coach, but he also impacted thousands of youngsters on Oahu as a public school administrator, working as a vice principal or principal at Jarrett Intermediate, and Farrington, Roosevelt and Kailua High Schools up to his retirement from the DOE in 1980.
He lived up to a reputation for toughness.
“Al Minn was my principal at Roosevelt for a year, and my friend for most of my adult life,” Star-Advertiser sports writer Stephen Tsai said. “We used to call the toughest person ‘the bull.’ Minn was the bull of Roosevelt. We feared him because we respected him.”
So did the thousands he taught to swim, and to swim very fast. He taught everyone from little kids just learning how to float to U.S. national and Olympic team members striving for world records and gold medals.
Did I say he was tough? He was, but only because he wanted to see people reach their potential.
“He knew how to be just as mean as he needed to be,” said Brett Phillips, one of his most successful elite-level swimmers.
Minn had a mantra: “Improve your time. Improve yourself. Never mind about anybody else.”
He started out coaching everything, not just swimming. Minn was as a football player at ‘Iolani and McKinley and was in the Army for two years during World War II, after which he used the benefits from the GI Bill to go to college at Willamette in Salem, Ore. (where he met Shirley).
Jerry Lilly, a football coach at Punahou, was moving on to Willamette and recruited Minn and some other local boys. Lilly knew of Minn’s love for the water as a beach boy, so he encouraged him to get certified as a lifeguard and instructor to make some spending money.
Minn got a master’s degree in education at Oregon, and upon returning to Hawaii became director of the Windward YMCA’s summer fun program.
“Parents were pleased that he taught discipline and values, and gave them a thorough education in swimming,” Shirley Minn said. “They did so well in swim meets unattached to a club, the parents wanted him to start a club.”
That was how the Aulea Swim Club and “Al Minn’s Fun Camp” got started. Shirley says it wasn’t all fun. But it sounds like a lot of it was: In addition to swimming, there was archery, hiking, camping and other outdoor activities. The camp was an annual event for 31 years.
Minn, who also coached at the University of Hawaii, was inducted into the Hawaii Swimming Hall of Fame in 2002 and retired from coaching in 2003.
But Aulea, which he founded in 1957, continues on. During its 60th anniversary in 2015, its home pool at Kailua District Park was named the Albert Minn Aquatic Center. The late Mark Takai, a state champion and UH swimmer who went on to become a United States congressman, attended the festivities.
“He taught me to dig deeper and try harder,” Takai said then of having been coached by Minn.
Minn also coached and was athletic director at Hawaii Loa College.
He loved all sports and was a UH season-ticket holder for both football and basketball.
I got to know him in the 1990s as a board member of the Honolulu Quarterback Club, where Minn was a longtime officer, often serving as president.
Debates were often passionate about directions the club should take. “Minn loved to argue with (Chris) Faria and (Earl) Galdeira,” recalled Jack Sullivan, another club officer.
But they always ended with everyone laughing and still good friends. And Minn did as much as anyone to keep the club afloat (sorry, couldn’t resist).
“He was a great advocate for the local athlete,” said Everett, who was also a board member. “I learned plenty from him during our Honolulu Quarterback Club days.”
In addition to his wife, Shirley, Al Minn is survived by daughters Donna McCutcheon, Shelley Moore, Mele Tatton and June Ford, son Albert Allen Minn, brother Herbert Minn, 10 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren. Services are pending.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads Opens in a new tab.
