Posted on: Saturday, November 6, 2004

1937-2004
Jules Cambra Jr., ex-Kaimuki AD, coach

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Jules Cambra Jr., a former high school varsity football coach and athletic director, helped many students gain self-esteem through weight training and powerlifting as a teacher at Kaimuki High School.

Cambra died Oct. 23 at age 67. He was a teacher for the Department of Education for 32 years and retired in 1995.

Cambra's legacy is Kaimuki's weight room, said O'ahu Interscholastic Association executive secretary Dwight Toyama.

"He started the weightlifting program at Kaimuki," said Toyama, a former Bulldogs' player when Cambra was the offensive line coach. Toyama later returned to coach with Cambra in the mid-1970s. "He was my mentor. (Jules) was strict with the kids but always fair," Toyama said.

George Naukana was a football teammate of Cambra's at Roosevelt High and the University of Hawai'i, where they were coached by brothers Edmund "Ticky" and Henry "Hank" Vasconcellos, respectively.

"Jules was such a good person and the thing I admired most about him was he was always up front about everything," Naukana said. "He always told you how he felt. Jules was very close to his family, compassionate and a good friend to me all my life."

Cambra was Campbell High School's first football coach. He coached the Sabers for three years before joining Charley Miyashiro's football staff at Roosevelt High in 1966. Miyashiro succeeded Naukana as Kaimuki's football coach in 1968, and Cambra later became a Bulldogs' assistant. In 1974, Cambra succeeded Miyashiro as head football coach at Kaimuki and became the school's athletic director a year later.

"My brother was strong-minded in whatever he did but he was always there for me or anyone else if you needed him," Lowell Cambra said.

Outside of teaching and weight training, Jules Cambra's love was free diving. "He entered tournaments on the Big Island," Lowell Cambra said.

Jules Cambra is survived by wife, Billie; son, Glenn; daughters, Lori Hamel and Kari Chung; brothers, Lowell, Bruce and James Cambra, and Colin Ota; sister, Moana Kaluna; nine grandchildren.

Visitation 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Borthwick Mortuary; service 7 p.m. Private scattering of ashes at a later date. Aloha attire.

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