Cliff Eblen, founding general manager of Hawaii Public Radio, died early Saturday morning at age 86 with family members by his side.

Eblen, who suffered a long illness, lived for the last five months at the Hale Hoaloha nursing home, according to Carol Eblen, his wife of 41 years.

Eblen was born in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 15, 1924, and at age 4 moved with his family to Cincinnati, where he later graduated from Western Hills High School.

"It was something he was always proud of," Carol Eblen said, as the school was akin to Punahou or ‘Iolani.

He joined the Army after graduation and served as a radioman, monitoring Morse code messaging in the Philippines and Okinawa during World War II.

Following his military service Eblen rejoined his family in Wisconsin, where he graduated from the University of Wisconsin. Concurrent with his studies he worked at the college radio station "and later at WHA-TV in Madison." He was also an amateur radio operator. "Radio was a very big part of his life," Carol Eblen said.

Cliff Eblen came to Hawaii in January 1966 to be program manager for ETV, Hawaii’s first public television station, which signed on the air that April. It was the precursor to KHET-TV, known now as PBS Hawaii.

"I was … the program assistant, so I married my boss," Carol Eblen quipped. "He was a good man." The two married on June 26, 1969.

Eblen and ETV colleague Bob Miller would lament Hawaii’s lack of a public radio station, "so Cliff decided to quit (KHET-TV) and give it a start," his widow said. Eblen joined businessman and political figure John Henry Felix in trying to get public radio started. At that time, in August 1980, the organization had a startup budget of $7,000.

KHPR-FM 88.1 signed on the air Nov. 13, 1981, from the old Varsity Building near Klum Gym on the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus. Miller joined Eblen as KHPR’s music director, its only other staff member. Professional acoustic foam for the studio walls was not in the budget, but egg cartons were and lined the walls.

Eblen hosted local programs, making his voice recognizable to thousands of Hawaii public radio listeners. He oversaw the station’s move to its present headquarters at 738 Kaheka St. as well as the project that got HPR’s KKUA-FM 90.7 Wailuku on the air in April 1988. Then, KIPO-FM 89.3 Honolulu went on the air in October 1989. Eblen retired in 1992 and was succeeded by Al Hulsen, from whom current President and General Manager Michael Titterton later took the reins.

Aside from radio, Eblen was active with Hawaii theater groups and often performed in plays. He also played a recurring role as an FBI agent in the original "Hawaii Five-0." The FBI looked askance at the role and eventually got it removed from the show. A reporter in the Pacific Northwest told Eblen later of the dossier the agency had compiled on him for his portrayal of Agent Jasper in episodes such as "Tiger by the Tail."

Services are pending and might be delayed until after the holidays, Carol Eblen said.

Cliff Eblen is survived by daughters Wendy (Peter) Sherwood of Sydney, Lani Egbert of Santa Cruz, Calif., and Janet Eblen of Honolulu; son Paul (Kaoru) Eblen of Honolulu; and six grandchildren.