Kahuku High School Red Raiders flags flew outside of the LDS North Stake Center in Laie and there was a sea of men and boys of all ages wearing Red Raiders ties to honor longtime local coach, Pele Leiataua, during the celebration of his life on Saturday, Aug. 11.
Remembered for his devotion to his players, his family, and the LDS Church, Leiataua passed away at age 66 at Castle Hospital on Aug. 1 after having a heart attack on Kahuku High’s football field.
“What do you say about a guy who has inspired so many people in a short five-or-10-minute talk?” said his sister, Nele Leiataua, who was the first to speak at his service. “We are not mourning a life lost, but we are celebrating a life lived.”
Born in Mapusaga Tutuila, American Samoa, on Nov. 3, 1951, Leiataua coached local boys in football, basketball and boxing for generations. He worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center and then BYU-Hawaii before retiring eight months ago, said family members. Those eight months, said Nele, were spent doing whatever he wanted and he was happy. “His favorite color was red,” she said. “He loved to cook, and he loved to smell good.”
Shockwaves were felt across the Red Raider nation when the news of Coach Pele’s passing swept through social media and on the internet.
“Our players and community are saddened by the loss,” said Red Raiders head football Coach Sterling Carvalho, in a story on the website Hawaii Prep World. “He will be missed greatly. I love Coach Pele and his heart was always for our kids in the community and players in our program. He served unconditionally and gave unselfishly.”
Leiataua was the JV quarterback’s coach, and he coached with Carvalho for a long time, says the Hawaii Prep World story. But this year Carvalho became the Varsity head coach.
“Our season will be dedicated to him,” Carvalho says in the article. “Every year, I told him that as long as I’m coaching, he will always have a job coaching QBs in my program. He always gave of his time and touched the lives of many over generations. Our community is mourning his loss. He is loved and will be missed. So as much as our team is excited to be ‘known’ this season, may Coach Pele be known to all as a coach who loved his players and his players loved him.”
Nele said in the same Hawaii Prep World article, “Pele died doing what he love best — coaching.”
She continues in the article, “He died of a massive heart attack. Pele never went down without a fight. He was still able to carry on a conversation with my brother, Johnny, and I while he was having the attack.”
Doctors at Castle Hospital told family members Pele had two clogged arteries and they couldn’t understand how he could still be alive, said his cousin, Joe Mauai, at his funeral services. However, Pele lived long enough to tell his family members gathered in the emergency room that he loved them, Mauai said.
When he was young, Nele said in the Hawaii Prep World story, “he wanted so much to play football for the Red Raiders, but he was too small. So he became the best water boy and supporter instead. He may have been small in stature, but he had a heart of a giant. My brother was a simple, humble guy who wanted no attention or accolades attached to his name. He was a pillar of our community and will be greatly missed.”
At his services, Nele added that the scripture in Mosiah 2:17, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God,” summed up her brother, Pele.
Joe Mauai shared stories about traveling with Pele to his to amateur boxing matches, and if Joe won, afterwards Pele would treat him “to anything his heart desired to eat at Zippys.” He said Pele taught him if you want to do something, do it good. Mauai further explained Pele said there are three kinds of good: “Good, no good, and good for nothing.”
One of Coach Pele’s former players, Jack Damuni, also spoke at Leiataua’s funeral services. He said when he first heard about his passing, all the memories he had with Pele and all the boys in Laie came back to him, and the happy memories made him laugh out loud. He said Pele was always there for the boys, coaching them at Laie Park, teaching them values and principles, buying food and ice cream for them, hanging out with them at BYUH sporting events or in the game room, and then walking each boy home to make sure they got arrived safely.
“Pele understood he was our role model and stepped up for us,” Damuni said. “Aside from our families, Pele was the example for us.”
Damuni continued, “He never judged us because of our ethnicity, but he united us to be one of the most powerful brotherhoods.”
Nele Leiataua said it was through her brother’s love of the Savior, Jesus Christ, that he was “able to unite anybody and everybody so we could all get along.”
Coach Pele spoke at Damuni’s missionary farewell and said seven words that changed Danumi’s life. “He said, ‘Never give up. Never, ever give up,’” recalled Dumani. “So many times I wanted to give up, but I remembered his words.”
Laie North Stake President Kingsley Ah You asked those in attendance at Coach Pele’s services to stand if they had been coached or coached with him, and more than 50 men and boys in the audience stood.
“I too was a product of Coach Pele,” Ah You said. Leiataua was known for his teams having great uniforms and team names that matched their team song. Ah You’s team was called the Super Freaks, and he said he remembered that they did have nice uniforms and ran out on the field to the tune of “Super Freak” by Rick James.
Using the letters in the word “coach,” Ah You characterized Pele as:
C – Christlike.
O – Offered all he had adding T-I-M-E is how Pele spelled and showed love.
A – Articulate in his own way but in a way his players understood.
C – Charismatic.
H – Humble.
“He served a mission in Samoa, was a high priest in the church, was a current temple recommend holder, and encouraged us to attend the house of God,” added Ah You. His love of Kahuku football and the Laie Hawaii Temple were evident, Ah You said, with both places being pictured on his funeral services program.
Johnny Leiataua, Pele’s brother, also spoke at his services thanking everyone for all they had done for Pele and their family. “It was Pele Leiataua Week,” he said as family and friends helped prepare for Pele’s services. “Listening to all the stories was great. He brought all the boys together even though he is gone. How grateful we are for him.”
Johnny added, “You guys are Pele’s family. You are our family.”