Tourism pioneer 'PK' Kendall dead at 85
By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Staff Writer
Paul Wallace "PK" Kendall of Honolulu, who played an active role in developing Hawai'i's tourism industry, died Dec. 29. He was 85.
Born in Framingham, Mass., Kendall was a Signal Corps photographer in the European theater during World War II. He later founded Lenscraft Photos in Boston, which became one of the city's largest public relations and photography firms.
Paul Wallace "PK" Kendall came to Hawai'i from Boston.
In 1960 Kendall left the company and came to Hawai'i without a job, but he was quickly hired as spokesman for Pan American World Airways. With the jet plane opening the Islands to the world, Kendall helped grow what was to become the state's No. 1 industry.
His longtime friend and colleague, Peter Fithian, said Kendall was greatly respected in the industry.
"He was solid, dependable, always there for people," Fithian said.
His greatest contribution may have been the Legislators Tourism Study Mission, also known as the Lulu tours. Named after a song that Kendall and his colleagues heard during a late-night meeting, Lulu stood for Legislators Untiring Learning Undertaking.
In the late 1970s, Kendall organized four Lulu tours that took state legislators and other key decision-makers to tourist spots around the world to study how Hawai'i could be competitive.
"I think Kendall's genius was that he got all those people together," Fithian said.
The Lulu tours led to collaboration between private industry and the public sector to build tourism, Fithian said, and a tourism tax to help pay for it.
Kendall also left his mark on landmark events. As chairman of a Hawai'i Visitor's Bureau special events committee, he was instrumental in the start of the Merrie Monarch Festival and the Lahaina Whaling Festival. He also helped create the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament more than 40 years ago.
The Big Island Visitor's Bureau recognized his contribution when it created the Kendall Cup, an annual Big Island golf tournament.
Kendall continued working as a tourism consultant after retiring from Pan Am in 1980.
He is survived by his wife, Corazon; daughter, Cheryl Shaffer; stepdaughters, Jean Bedillion Gaynor and Betty Bedillion; grandchildren, Shana, Troye and Ryan Shaffer, Raquel Lucas, Marielle and Hewitt Gaynor, Stephanie and Ryan Hailstones; and sister, Dorothy. Private service. Celebration of life 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at his residence, 4309 Kilauea Ave.
