Former Kailua-Kona hotelier William "Bill" Weza had a passion for community service up until his death last month in the Marshall Islands.
Weza worked as general manager of the Marshall Islands Resort until his death on Sept. 13 and had previously been a longtime hotel ambassador on Hawaii island. He was 66.
The former U.S. Army veteran was born on March 14, 1946, in Ontonagon, Mich., and started his career in the hospitality industry in the 1970s as a busboy at a restaurant at the Naniloa Resort in Hilo.
He eventually worked his way up to food and beverages manager at the Kona Surf Resort, and had worked in the food and beverages position at virtually every hotel on the Kona coast, including the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort, Kona Hilton and the King Kamehameha Hotel. He also worked briefly at the Royal Lahaina Resort on Maui.
"My recollections of Bill are those of seeing a pioneer — going where others dare not go, doing what others dare not do and carrying the word and spirit of Outrigger into the hinterlands," Dorsey Brady, who worked with Outrigger for 14 years as a general manager and later vice president, said in an email. "He was a man of his time — doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time."
While Weza is known for his hard work and dedication, often working 14- to 16-hour shifts, he is equally recognized for his tireless community advocacy on numerous nonprofit boards and committees throughout the Pacific, said Kailua-Kona resident Keola Weza, 40, one of his four sons.
He was involved with the Kona Coffee Council and the Polynesian Voyaging Society, as well as the Ironman Triathlon and a number of children’s advocacy groups. He is best known for helping in the resurgence of Marshallese mat-weaving, organizing a group of community elders to teach the younger generation the art of traditional weaving.
He moved to Majuro in early 2000 to run the then-Outrigger Marshall Islands Resort as food and beverages director before becoming general manager. Weza also had a passion for fishing and was head of the Marshall Islands Billfish Club.
"He was probably on every board and committee whether it was Ironman or the Kona Coffee Council and tourism board in the Marshall Islands," Keola Weza said. "He just wanted to be sure everything was right … whatever board he was on," he said. "I’m not as engaged as he was, but definitely his hard work and his drive drove us to be good sons and hardworking."
Weza is survived by wife Helena of the Marshall Islands, as well as sons Robert, Keola, Lanakila and Kanoa. A celebration of life will be held Saturday at Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club at 11 a.m. at the Honokohau Harbor.
"I don’t know what his drive was. I don’t necessarily know if he had a direct passion for one thing; it’s just everything," Keola Weza said. "He was well liked, very passionate about what he did, very vocal about (whether) things were right or wrong. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. He was the only haole guy in Kona inducted into the Royal Order of Kamehameha."
