E. Alvey Wright, a retired rear admiral at Pearl Harbor and former state director of transportation, died Thursday as he lived: with something to say.

Wright was a man whose name is almost synonymous with H-3. He spent nearly a decade as state transportation director, much of it trying to win the hearts and minds of O'ahu residents to build H-3 a reality. He built the reef runway.

He worked on SeaFlight, and as an advisor for the Hawai'i Superferry.

" He always felt our oceans should be our highways," said Rusty Wright, E. Alvey Wright's son.

From ferry systems to a light-rail system for O'ahu's central urban corridor, Wright fought for transportation, often pitting himself against such staunch opponents as the Stop H-3 Association, the Moanalua Gardens Foundation, the Sierra Club and the LIfe of the Land.

"He wrote his own obit complete with phone numbers before he passed away," Wright said. "He was so organized. He was an amazing man.

"He had a to-do list every day."

He was dealing with congestive heart failure and in failing health due to his age, his son said.

Wright also is survived by his son's wife, Pattye Wright; three stepgrandsons and four step-granddaughters. Wife Dorothy Wright died in 2004.

"On his 100th birthday he talked dark energy, harnessing the mysterious forces in our galaxy," Wright said. "He's the only man I knew who was 100 talking about this. He loved keeping his mind active."

Services will be private. Borthwick Mortuary is handling the arrangements