W. Dudley Child Jr. led Inter-Island Resorts
Advertiser Staff
Hotel industry pioneer W. Dudley Child Jr., former president of Inter-Island Resorts, one of Hawai'i's most influential hotel, travel and transportation companies, died Sunday at his Big Island home. He was 73.
Child was born in Honolulu on March 22, 1931, and grew up in the hotel industry. His father, Walter Dudley Child Sr., bought the historic Blaisdell Hotel in downtown Honolulu in 1938, and at age 7, W. Dudley Child Jr. began working there as an elevator and switchboard operator.
Child
The elder Child acquired controlling interest in Inter-Island Resorts in the late 1940s, and his son learned the business during summer jobs in the company's various hotels, which included the Naniloa Hotel in Hilo, the Nuimalu Hotel at the site where the Hilton Hawaiian Village now stands, and the Coconut Island Hotel on Coconut Island in Kane'ohe Bay.
When Walter Sr. suffered a stroke, Child succeeded his father as president at age 26.
A year later he unveiled plans to build a destination resort on 120 acres of beachfront property on Kaua'i's Kalapaki Bay. Construction of the Kaua'i Surf began in 1959.
Child later expanded the Kaua'i Surf, the Naniloa and the Kona Inn, and developed the Kona Surf and Maui Surf.
Child is survived by his wife of 52 years, Mary Lou; daughters, Deborah Lawrence, Cheri Atkins, Sandi Cales and Pam Child; son, Walter Dudley "Woody" Child III; hanai son, Gordon MacGregor; nine grandchildren; and a half sister, Lois Kodres.
A celebration of his life will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Kona Inn. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation, the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, or the John A. Burns School of Medicine's Neuropathology Department.
