Patsy Dung, the first coach of the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team, died Monday at Kuakini Hospital.

Dung, 87, died peacefully after a long illness, said Delcy Saito, who played for Dung at UH and on her Kalihi Jets club team.

“There were about 20 of us in the room,” Saito said. “We sang ‘I’ll Remember You’ for her.”

Dung was a physical education teacher at Farrington High School in 1974 when UH women’s athletic director Donnis Thompson hired her to coach the fledgling Wahine team.

They were 31-20 in five seasons under Dung. Her teams posted winning records every season, except for 1976-77, when UH was 4-4.

The team played a much shorter schedule than now; the conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances under Vince Goo and now Laura Beeman were to come decades later.

In the 1970s the program was just getting off the ground. Dung’s UH coaching position was a part-time job. She would lead the Wahine practices at Klum Gym after a full day at Farrington.

“I think gradually more and more interest is being shown,” Dung said in a 1976 Honolulu Star-Bulletin article. “In the beginning they’d ask, ‘What is girls’ basketball?’ At least now people recognize there is a team.”

Dung, who was born and raised in Hawaii, graduated from Roosevelt High School and Michigan State. After college, she returned home and started her teaching career at Farrington that spanned more than 30 years.

“It amazed me how she stayed in touch with so many former students,” said her main caregiver and companion Raelene Dominguez, who also played on Dung’s UH and Jets teams.

Since there were no girls’ or women’s sports teams at the school or in the area, she founded the Kalihi Jets. The Jets started with softball and expanded to volleyball and basketball, Saito said.

“It was started by Patsy to take care of her girls at Farrington,” Saito said. “There was nothing for them.”

Another Farrington teacher, Charles Kaulukukui, helped Dung coach the Jets, Saito said.

With her as a role model, many of Dung’s players on the Jets and at UH went on to become educators.

“She was one of my mentors,” said Saito, who taught health and physical education at St. Andrew’s Priory, where yet another Jet, Jeanne Chang, also taught.

Another of Dung’s UH players, Sabrina McKenna, is a Hawaii Supreme Court judge.

“She had a very, very long day every day,” McKenna said in a 2022 Honolulu Star-Advertiser article celebrating Dung’s contributions to girls and women’s sports in Hawaii. “That was just a sign of her commitment to advancing and giving opportunities to women and athletics.”

After retirement, Dung enjoyed attending UH games and staying in touch with her former players and students.

“She always gave without expecting anything in return,” Dominguez said.

Services are pending.