Posted on: Friday, February 21, 2003

Retired lawyer Carlsmith a Big Island history buff

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Donn Wendell Carlsmith, a longtime Hilo resident and a retired partner in the law firm of Carlsmith Ball LLP, died Wednesday in Honolulu. He was 73.

James Case, a longtime friend and business associate, said that beyond Carlsmith's notable legal career and long history of service to his community, he was a collector of rare books and paintings depicting early Polynesian voyages, and was known for his interest and expertise in the flora and history of the Big Island.

"One favorite anecdote was that he knew every square foot of land on the island of Hawai'i, which chiefs had owned it, and what other people thereafter also had interests in it," Case said.

Carlsmith was born in Hilo on March 17, 1929. He graduated from Hilo High School in 1946, Stanford University in 1950 and Harvard Law School in 1953. He returned to Hilo and joined the law firm of Carlsmith and Carlsmith.

He became a partner in 1959 and retired in 1995. He moved to Honolulu in 1990.

Carlsmith was managing director of Dillingham Investment Corp., which owned Dillingham Ranch, Captain Cook Coffee Co. and the Captain Cook shopping center.

He also served as chairman of the Hawai'i Preparatory Academy, National Tropical Botanical Gardens and Lyman Museum. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to those institutions.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Carlsmith is survived by his mother, Edith Mattson Carlsmith; daughter, Kandy Jean Carlsmith; son, Harvey Scott Carlsmith; sister, Edith Gayle Carlsmith; brother, C. Duane Carlsmith; and nephews and nieces.