For the better part of 40 years James Seishiro “Jim” Burns labored on behalf of University of Hawaii athletics, helping to raise money, guide its booster club and lift its profile.

But when people sought to pat him on the back for his tireless volunteer efforts, Burns would have none of it.

Rolling up his sleeves wasn’t about making a name for himself Burns would say, it was about following through on the athletic portion of the considerable legacy of the one he reverently called, “The Old Man.”

That was his late father, John A. Burns who, during his tenure (1962-74) as governor, emerged as the godfather of modern UH athletics.

Jim Burns, who died Thursday at age 79 after a long battle with throat cancer, was successful in his own right in spending 32 years as a judge, the final 25 as Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge.

But between being an adjunct professor and board member of the UH’s Richardson School of Law, mentoring students, gardening and other pursuits, there was always time in his day and a place in his heart for UH athletics.

After his father laid out a vision for UH sports in the 1960s, “Jim Burns took the ball and helped UH run with it,” recalled Carol Gouveia, who worked for 32 years at Ahahui Koa Anuenue, the athletic booster club and fundraising arm of the department.

Stan Sheriff, who served as UH athletic director 1983-93, often saluted Jim Burns as an invaluable “right-hand man.”

When Gov. Burns took office in 1962 UH had just brought football back from a one-year hiatus and was playing a mix of local club and military foes sprinkled in with some college teams. Amid a string of college losses, including several blowouts, Gov. Burns was said to have left Honolulu Stadium in disgust, telling UH President Thomas Hamilton, “Either field a (representative) team or forget it.”

Along with the marching orders Gov. Burns added $8,000 of his own money and enlisted his aide, Dan Aoki, a former 442nd Regimental Combat Team sergeant, to challenge individuals and businesses to add funds through what would become AKA (Ahahui Koa Anuenue).

The vision had less to do with winning games than addressing what Gov. Burns called “a subtle inferiority of spirit” in the young state. One way to accomplish that was through first-rate institutions such as a medical school, law school and athletic program, all of which he championed.

“Show me a university that is financially secure and I’ll show you its athletic foundation; show me a championship team and I’ll show you a student body academically driven by the same zeal of excellence,” the Gov. said.

He ordered the new athletic director, Paul Durham, to begin groundwork for membership in the Western Athletic Conference and took up the campaign himself with governors of states whose teams were in the WAC. Then, he backed the building of Aloha Stadium.

And he encouraged his son to get involved with AKA, where “For more than forty years Jim Burns pursued and kept alive his father’s dream of establishing and maintaining a successful, nationally recognized athletics program at UH through AKA,” Gouveia said. “He served on the board of directors in various positions before guiding the program as president for over thirty years.”

In that span, AKA collected millions of dollars for scholarships, underwrote the building of a dormitory, Hale Anuenue, and funded things that state money wasn’t able to cover.

The youngest of three children, Jim Burns often reflected on a life he was a long-shot to experience. His paralyzed mother, Bea, was encouraged by doctors to end the pregnancy but she refused having already lost a child.

When no doctors would treat his wife, John Burns turned to a friend, Henry Seishiro Okazaki, who was a judo master and practitioner of Japanese massage and healing arts. After the birth of a healthy 8-pound son, John asked Okazaki if there was anything he could do to honor the debt. “He told my dad, ‘you can name him Seishiro.’ So, you can see, I’ve been blessed.”

Recalling the bronze bust of his father than stands near the entrance to Aloha Stadium, Jim observed, “‘The Old Man’ is watching what we do.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.