Jim Leahey, the longtime voice of UH sports, dies at age 80
Jim Leahey, who for over 40 years was the voice of University of Hawaii sports, died Monday at the age of 80.
Leahey, who was inducted into the UH Sports Circle of Honor in 2016, will be remembered for broadcasting thousands of UH contests in football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, softball, soccer, swimming and water polo on both radio and television, UH said in story posted on the school’s athletics website.
“We’re deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Leahey, who was the voice of University of Hawai‘i sports for more than four decades,” the UH Athletics Department said in a statement. “Jim was there for our biggest moments. His iconic and colorful calls have been stamped into our collective memories. Jim was eloquent, knowledgeable and more than anything was a fierce supporter of this state and its great culture and sports teams. A giant in the industry, Jim took the broadcasting torch from his father Chuck and has since passed it on to his son Kanoa. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the entire Leahey ‘ohana during this difficult time.
A 1970 graduate of UH, Leahey became “The TV Voice” of Rainbow Warrior and Rainbow Wahine teams in 1984, working for KGMB, and later KFVE and OCSports until his retirement in 2018. He concluded his broadcasting career where it started, calling Rainbow baseball games for KKEA.
According to UH, Leahey made his broadcast debut as a Saint Louis School sophomore after his father, Chuck, came down with a lung infection prior to the broadcast of the all-service boxing card from Conroy Bowl at Schofield Barracks. He began his decades-long involvement with UH as the P.A. announcer for the inaugural Rainbow Classic in 1964. He often joined Chuck in the radio booth as a color analyst for KGU then took over play-byplay duties in 1973, his first football game being Hawaii’s win over Fresno State.
In 1979, he joined his father at KITV where he became the director of sports programming. He later moved to KGMB, where he replaced Joe Moore as sports director for 15 years. From there, he went to KFVE and then to OCSports. He was a 19-time recipient of Hawaii Sportscaster of the Year.
A graduate of the University of San Francisco, Leahey served in the U.S. Navy before earning his master’s degree at UH and teaching at Campbell High School for 10 years.
“Today we lost the patriarch of our family. A man known by his supreme talents for storytelling, an unrelenting passion for Hawaii and the teams and athletes that represent it, and a lifelong love for the craft of sports broadcasting,” the Leahey family said in a statement Monday. “Jim Leahey was also a loyal and loving husband, father and grandfather, who placed his family and his faith above all.
“He took tremendous pride in supplying the narration for some of the University of Hawaii’s greatest athletic achievements, and cherished seeing the community come together, united, to root for the home team.
“We thank everyone for their well wishes and support at this mournful time.
“As our dad would always say to close his broadcasts, ‘Malama pono kekahi i kekahi.’ ”