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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, October 8, 2001

Rod Ohira's People
Success joins passion to help

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hiram de Fries reaches into his back pocket for a worn-out black cowhide wallet containing his business cards. His right hand sports an eye-catching diamond-studded ring.

Businessman and attorney Hiram de Fries displays one of his prized possessions, the wallet he received as a senior football player for Colorado State University in 1963.

Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The wallet and ring say a lot about what shaped this 60-year-old man from Kalihi, and what he does in his spare time to give back.

De Fries, who maintains homes in Kahala and Mission Viejo, Calif., is general manager of Equillon Enterprises LLC, a joint venture of Shell Oil Company and Texaco. He returns to Hawai'i every other month and spends about 40 days a year here.

He's also an attorney, specializing in petroleum, real estate and environmental law, and the sole stockholder and CEO of small corporations operating 15 service stations, food marts and car washes in California with annual revenues of $15 million.

Despite his success, the 1959 Punahou School graduate remains humble. One of his most-cherished possessions, for example, is the wallet that Colorado State University gave to its senior football players in 1963.

Furthermore, for the past 16 years, de Fries has been juggling his business schedule — causing him to fly three or four times a week — so that he can coach high school football in California. After nine seasons at Mission Viejo High, he joined Bruce Rollinson's staff at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Calif., in 1992 to coach offensive linemen.

The ring was a gift from Mater Dei High to its coaches in appreciation for a decade of football excellence. The five diamonds on a red gem stone represent the number of California Interscholastic Federation Division-I championships won by the Monarchs in the 1990s. Mater Dei also claimed two national titles during that period.

He has never accepted any money for coaching. "It's kind of a passion for me," said de Fries.

"... In managing a business, you need organization, strategy, leadership and execution. Leadership is the bridge between strategy and execution. It's the same in coaching."

De Fries remains with the Mater Dei team for two-a-day practices at the start of each season. After that, he shows up only on game days. "We run the same (I Pro Set) system so I know what's going on," he said. "(Offensive line coach) Ed Begany and I have been working together since 1995. During games, he works with the weak side linemen, and I concentrate on the strong side."

Mater Dei played the nation's No. 1-ranked team, De La Salle, on Sept. 22 and lost for the fourth straight year, 34-6. On Thursday, the Monarchs defeated Loara High of Anaheim, 36-0, in a nonconference game. Loara is coached by de Fries' brother, John, who starred as a quarterback at Roosevelt before earning Little All-America linebacker honors at Cal Western.

"In Hawai'i, St. Louis, Kahuku, Kamehameha and, perhaps in some years Wai'anae could compete on the Division I level on the mainland," said de Fries, who often watches prep games here. "In California, there are 450 schools in divisions one through 12. The rest of the schools in Hawai'i would fit somewhere in there and do well."

After earning all-league honors as a center at Punahou, de Fries played four years at Colorado State. Leo Reed and Bill Apisa were among his CSU teammates. After earning his degree in business administration at CSU, De Fries married the former Trudi Dougherty. The couple have three children and three grandchildren.

De Fries came home and went to work for Shell Oil in July 1963. "I started off as a terminal operator working at the plant's refueling slip," he said. Advancement meant moving to the Mainland, and de Fries spent three years working in Orange County, Calif., and Houston before taking an educational leave of absence to attend law school.

"I had three children, two who were in diapers yet, and we were traveling all over the country," he said. "Shell paid my educational expenses when I went to law school (Western State University in Fullerton, Calif.) but the most important thing about those two years was I was home every night with my kids."

The timing of his law practice was perfect. It was 1977, the oil companies were coming out of the first gasoline embargo and Congress was about to pass the Petroleum Marketing Practice Act, which is the law that governs the relations between major oil refineries, wholesalers and retailers. De Fries borrowed money to buy up service stations that did not survive the gas crisis and concentrated his law practice on petroleum issues.

"I owed millions," he said. "Fortunately, my wife was a great bookkeeper. I took the chance, figuring if we made it work, it would give us a chance later to spend time with our children."

De Fries plans to retire in 18 months when he completes a cost-reduction initiative to streamline operations for the company.

"I'd like a full-time coaching job where I don't have to teach five classes," de Fries said. "If there's an opportunity, I'd love to work with (University of Hawai'i Coach) June Jones."

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8181.