Charlie Wedemeyer and his wife, Lucy, on a visit to Punahou School, his alma mater, in June 2005 to speak about Lou Gehrig's disease. Advertiser library photo   Lucy and Charlie Wedemeyer on their wedding day in October 1966. Advertiser library photo

He is the organization's first recipient from Hawai'i.

Wedemeyer was an all-league selection three times in football, baseball and basketball at Punahou School in the '60s and was named the Hawai'i Athlete of the Decade in that timeframe.

He went on to football at Michigan State, where he was a member of the 1965 national championship team and played in the famous "Game of the Century" in 1966 against Notre Dame.

Wedemeyer has battled Lou Gehrig's disease for the past 30 years and communicates through his wife, Lucy. A made-for-TV movie was broadcast nationally in 1988, and the Wedemeyers give inspirational speeches throughout the country.