The Rev. John Bolin, a Marianist priest who was vicar general for the Diocese of Honolulu under Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, died Sunday in Cupertino, Calif.

He was 82.

A priest for 54 years and a Marianist brother for a decade before that, Bolin served as Marianist provincial superior, held numerous leadership positions at Chaminade University and worked here intermittently over the course of 24 years.

Ordained in 1955, Bolin was a high school teacher, college professor and administrator, novice master, seminary rector, provincial councilor and, for eight years, provincial of the Marianists' Pacific Province.

"He's always been such a big figure in our province, this is a real passing of an era for us," said Brother Dennis Schmidt, a Marianist who had Bolin as his novice director. "For my 41 years, the standard bearer was always there."

Bolin, a native New Yorker, was the third of five children growing up in Queen's Village, Long Island, to an accountant father and homemaker mother.

His niece, Kathleen Dyckes of New York, remembers how important family was to Bolin.

"He was a people person, but when he came home, he just want to be with family," she said, "to just spend time talking about our lives and what we were doing."

For many years, he's called his last remaining sibling, his sister Dorothy Bolin, every Saturday, no matter where he was, Dyckes recalled.

In 1994, the newly appointed DiLorenzo — who was transferred a decade later to the Richmond, Va., diocese — asked Bolin to serve as vicar general, his No. 2, in Honolulu. Bolin worked on numerous diocesan boards and commissions, advising the bishop and representing him on nearly every aspect of diocesan affairs.

After his retirement as vicar general in 2000, Bolin moved to northern California for a Marianist assignment, returning briefly to Chaminade for a few more years before retiring for good in 2005.

As an administrator, he was remembered as striking the right note between leader and pastor.

"He ran a tight ship but it wasn't burdensome or repressive," Schmidt said.

Schmidt most remembers Bolin's sense of humor.

"He loved telling the latest joke," Schmidt said. "He loved human foibles. He loved to laugh."

He was also adept with omiyage: When Bolin traveled, Schmidt recalled, there was always a suitcase for gifts to give those he was going to meet. On the way back, it would be filled with gifts for staff and friends.

Bolin is survived by a sister, Dorothy Bolin of New York, and eight nieces and nephews.

There will be a local memorial for Bolin at 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday at Mystical Rose Oratory on the Chaminade campus.

A Mass will also be said at the Marianist Center in Cupertino, Calif., on June 24, followed by burial at 11 a.m. June 25 at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Los Altos.