Robert Emmett “Bob” Bethea, a retired attorney and prominent business and community leader, died Sept. 18 at Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo. He was 85.
Bethea, born in Augusta, Ga., was an Army veteran and Stanford Law School graduate. He came to Hilo in 1958 and practiced law with the firm of Carlsmith, Carlsmith Wichman &Case before moving to Case &Lynch in the late 1980s.
Bethea, who retired from law practice in 2003, was past president of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, the first president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce not of Japanese descent, a founding member of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce and Hawaii Island Economic Development Board, and member of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Big Island Business Council.
“Bob was a guy who got along with everybody and people liked him,” said Hilo attorney Al Konishi, who was recruited by Bethea for the Carlsmith firm and later moved with Bethea to Case &Lynch. “He was fair and effective and the kind of guy (the various chambers) wanted as the face of their organization, even though his face was not the ethnic face that you would associate with some of those organizations.
“People recognized his intelligence and his effectiveness, but I think the fact that he headed all the ethnic chambers also indicates how they felt about him as a human being.”
Konishi said Bethea was “one of the pioneers in the state of Hawaii in helping establish the regulatory framework for alternative energy sources such as geothermal and biomass.”
“That was back in the early 1980s,” Konishi said. “Carlsmith represented a lot of the sugar plantations. I think that was the logical lead-in for Bob becoming an expert in the field of alternative energy.”
Bethea’s son, William “Skip” Bethea, said his dad was effective in getting business people elected to the state Legislature and their agendas before the Legislature.
“Back then, businessmen weren’t really an effective lobbying group, even in Honolulu,” he said. “That’s why he put together … the (Hawaii Island Economic Development Board) to put together a package (of initiatives) for the Legislature. The (University of Hawaii at Hilo) was a big priority.”
Bethea also was a rodeo rider and had a 14-acre ranch with arena at Kalaoa, north of Hilo.
In addition, he helped start a bone marrow registry in Hawaii for patients of Filipino descent.
“That was something he felt good about; it didn’t have anything to do with work,” Skip Bethea said, adding his father took on the project after returning from an economic development tour of the Philippines.
“He was moved by the poverty there,” the younger Bethea said. “He visited a hospital. I think that’s where he came up with that idea.”
Visitation is 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, at Dodo Mortuary Chapel with a memorial service at 7 p.m. A private urn committal service is planned at Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. 2 at a later date.
Other survivors include sons, James (Nathalie) Bethea of Florida and Robert M. Bethea of Puna; daughter, Julie Bethea of Washington state; sister, Patricia Bell of Georgia; stepdaughters, Joelle Burgess of Hilo and Sarah Huffman of Florida; seven grandchildren, five stepgrandchildren and three great-grandchildren; plus nieces and nephews.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
