Cindy Luis was a trailblazer in many ways. The most fulfilling for her might be that her son, Tiff Wells, followed the path she set with a career of his own in sports media.

Luis, a pioneer woman sportswriter and editor in Hawaii, died in her sleep overnight Saturday at her home in Kailua, Wells said Sunday.

“She wasn’t ill, so it is very surprising,” Wells said in a phone interview Sunday. “She usually paddles at Kailua Beach on Sundays. When she didn’t show up, her paddling friends were concerned and checked on her. We’re told it was either late (Saturday) night or (Sunday) morning, and it was natural causes.”

Friends of Luis also said she had no apparent serious health issues, and Hawaii sports fans reacted with shock and sadness. Word of her death spread quickly after she was recognized with a moment of silence before the 1 p.m. start of the University of Hawaii’s baseball game at Les Murakami Stadium.

Luis, 70, became the first female sportswriter at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 1981, and was the first woman to be sports editor of a daily newspaper in the state, also at the Star-Bulletin. She enjoyed a long career, mostly as a writer, retiring from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in 2020 and then covering UH volleyball for her website.

“I’m saddened beyond words,” said Star-Advertiser sports editor Curtis Murayama, who had known Luis since the early 1980s.“Cindy was a terrific writer, colleague and person. She loved sports, the Hawaii culture and was so proud of her son, Tiff. Our sports staff is in a state of shock and sadness right now.”

Wells, 39, is the radio voice of University of Hawaii volleyball. He said his mother was overjoyed when he told her he wanted to work in sports media about 25 years ago. While sons following their fathers in sports media has long been commonplace, Wells is one of the first men to follow his mother’s path in the field and the first anyone is aware of in Hawaii.

“I’m quiet by nature,” Wells said. “I always joke that she’s the more talkative one, but she’s more known for her writing and me for broadcast.”

Luis also listened and observed, and it showed in her writing. She was a multiple award winner in various categories, especially feature writing.

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She also started a sports media class at UH, which she taught several years, and served as an unofficial mentor and adviser to many aspiring sports communications professionals. UH’s acting athletic director Lois Manin started in media relations and said she learned a lot from Luis.

“We spent many late nights at Klum Gym back in the day and had a lot of conversations about Rainbow Wahine sports over the years,” Manin said via text Sunday. “She was a gifted writer, historian, and advocate. My heart goes out to Tiff and the ohana. She will be missed by many and remembered by more.”

Luis was inducted into the UH Sports Circle of Honor last year. She and Ann Miller — a competitor at The Honolulu Advertiser and colleague for decades, and herself a pioneer in women’s sports media in Hawaii — were in the Circle’s class of 2024.

“It was always a celebration when we saw each other,” Miller said Sunday, by phone from California. “We’d celebrate, and plan the next celebration.”

Miller was referring specifically to Luis’ annual birthday party in late December, but it could also apply to their long sportswriting careers, when they celebrated the achievements of a widening variety of athletes, numbering in the thousands.

Luis was most known for her coverage of UH women’s sports, especially volleyball. But she handled every sports beat in Hawaii at various times. She even helped create one, as she developed a weekly recreational sports page when she was assistant sports editor at the Star-Bulletin in the 1990s. Luis also produced and directed heavy coverage of Division II college sports.

Expanding the scope of coverage — regardless of the players’ gender and sometimes the sports they played — was a growing trend, and women like Luis and Miller were a big part of the first wave. Both were active members of the Association for Women in Sports Media.

“Yeah, she felt like everybody’s giving it their best shot, so how can you not cover them as much?” said Miller, when asked about Luis’ diverse subject matter. “In some ways, with newspapers getting so small, the bulk of media is in other formats, and it seems like it’s getting more inclusive. Most of the primary sports reporters are men, but there sure are a lot more (women) everywhere now, including ESPN.”

However, the inclusiveness did not come at the expense of expertise. Volleyball was not the first sport for either as a young athlete, but Luis and Miller satisfied an audience with a tremendous volleyball IQ, without writing over the heads of readers new to the sport.

Luis covered five UH national championship volleyball teams – three of the women’s championship squads in the 1980s, and the 2021 and 2022 men’s teams.

Her talent and work ethic were recognized and appreciated by many, including those she covered.

“She could always put a spin on a game that was interesting, even the losses and lopsided wins,” said retired UH volleyball coaching legend Dave Shoji, who added that Luis became a family friend over the years. “She will be missed in the volleyball community as well as others she touched.”

Luis’ versatility served her well when she covered high school sports, and she put a renewed emphasis on them when she became Star-Bulletin sports editor in the late 1990s.

It was around the same time that a relative unknown in the Hawaii sports world, Keith Amemiya, became head of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.

“I met her early on in my HHSAA tenure and she was always spot-on with her knowledge and insight,” Amemiya said via text Sunday. “I’ll always be grateful for her passion and commitment to the sports and people she covered.”

Luis started on the varsity basketball team for three years at University High School in San Diego, where she was born and raised. Future filmmaker Cameron Crowe was one of her schoolmates, and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” was partly based on their school, she said. Luis’ ex-husband and Tiff Wells’ dad, Jay Wells, went to the high school that inspired “Remember The Titans.”

Luis was the first female sports editor of The Daily Bruin at UCLA, where she covered John Wooden’s iconic basketball program and other sports. She was also a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.

After graduation, Luis worked at the Pacific Daily News in Guam. That is where, in 1978, she met now-retired Star-Advertiser editor and reporter Christie Wilson, who remained friends with Luis and spoke with her twice by phone last week.

“She did face those challenges of being a female sportswriter,” Wilson said by phone Sunday. “But she wasn’t confrontational, always gracious. And so knowledgeable. She was known for volleyball, but the breadth of her knowledge of all sports was impressive, and it was undeniable that she cared.

“And she walked the walk,” Wilson added. “She paddled, ran marathons. Cindy was an amazing sportswoman. She was a great basketball player. We used to play on Guam and she kicked my butt.”

After retirement, Luis volunteered as a docent at ‘Iolani Palace. Wilson said they talked about going on a trip to Portugal.

Luis also continued writing her popular volleyball blog.

Before media seating arrangements at the Stan Sheriff Center were changed last year, mother and son sat next to each other at matches — one writing, one broadcasting.

“She would always sit next to me,” Wells said. “When we got married (to Taryn, in 2021) and moved to town and didn’t see each other a lot, that became a lot more special. It was something we treasured.”

In addition to Wells, Luis is survived by two younger brothers. Mario lives in Kailua and Craig lives in Washington State with his wife, Donna.

Services are pending, Wells said.