Tom Dinell ’49

Tom Dinell ’49, of Honolulu; Dec. 9. He earned a master’s from Harvard and served in the U.S. Army. In 1964, he became the first director for the Hawaii State Legislative Reference Bureau. He founded the Pacific Urban Studies and Planning Program at the University of Hawaiʻi (now the Department of Urban and Regional Planning) and served as department chair for more than 20 years. He became professor emeritus and taught his final class at 90. He helped establish a conflict resolution program as well as the distinguished Chair of Affordable Housing within the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He became a fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners in 2002. From 1988 to 1996, he served as director of Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi, and at age 88 he helped establish Trees for Honolulu’s Future, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting Oʻahu’s urban tree canopy. He is survived by his wife, Kristi; eight children and their spouses; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.