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John Montgomery Lind had barely stepped onto the shores of Waikiki in 1939 when he made quite a splash in the world of surfing — not by catching waves, but making them.
At 25 the California surfer began organizing the Hawaii Surfing Association. He founded the Waikiki Surf Club and was key in founding the Makaha International Surfing Championships in 1953.
Lind died Saturday in Honolulu at age 96.
"John Lind contributed significantly to the growth and prosperity of surfing in the earliest days," said former state Sen. Fred Hemmings, a champion surfer.
"He was one of the stalwarts and leaders in the Waikiki Surf Club, which produced really international championships in Makaha," he said. He "was one of the people who worked hard and made it the premier surfing championship."
Born in Berkeley, Calif., Lind grew up in Long Beach, where he learned to surf and dreamed of coming to Hawaii.
After founding the Long Beach Surf Club, he worked with the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1938 to put on the First National Surfing Championship there.
During World War II, working with the Jaycees, Lind organized surf and paddling contests on Waikiki Beach.
Surf buddy Wally Froiseth, now 90, said: "He was a great promoter.
"Under John’s promotion we (the Waikiki Surf Club) started to make a surfing contest out at Makaha," which drew surfers from France, Africa, South America and Australia, Froiseth said.
"If it wasn’t for the Makaha thing, I don’t think there would be that many surfers down here," he said.
While with the Jaycees, Lind came up with the idea for the Molokai-to-Oahu canoe race, Froiseth said.
Lind organized the Hawaii Canoe Racing Association, which set up rules so everyone could get a fair shake, he said.
"He was a great guy, very respectful, and treated everybody nice," Froiseth said.
In 1939 Lind snagged a Hawaii position with the Dohrmann Hotel Supply Co. and arrived "with a new car, two surfboards and a trunk," son Ian said.
In 1959 he left to start Honolulu Restaurant Supply, a small business that managed to compete with bigger companies. Lind retired in 1998.
"He was a regular guy," Ian Lind said. "He was an honest businessman who did everything on a handshake. He got burned by the big boys, but he rarely complained. I guess I ended up respecting him for that."
Lind confessed to his son that he was never a great surfer, but he loved bodysurfing.
He spent many of his days fishing on his 28-foot fishing boat, originally owned by Duke Kahanamoku, which has been donated to the Waikiki Yacht Club, where Duke kept it.
Lind is also survived by wife Helen, daughter Bonnie Stevens, two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
