A composer, musician, writer and educator of all things Hawaiian, George Terry "Kanalu" Young, who died Aug. 31, left behind a family that extends to fellow professors and students.

Young was 54. He had been suffering from an unspecified illness.

"It's a really big loss," said Jon Osorio, a professor at the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa who co-authored scholarly work and taught with Young. "The fact of the matter is, he was an associate professor on the verge of becoming a full professor with the ability to design new courses. He was more fluent than I in Hawaiian language."

Young was the third professor to be hired for the Center for Hawaiian Studies, which recently began offering master's programs.

A diving accident at the age of 15 left Young a paraplegic, Osorio said. While he was bound to a chair physically, his intellect soared above the clouds, he said.

"You could never be around Kanalu without feeling that your own difficulties were miniscule compared to his," Osorio said. "He was a constant inspiration to us."

He is survived by his parents, George and Gwen, a brother, sister and nephews. His wife, Geraldine Bush, died in 1993.

As a Hawaiian Studies professor, he was most well known for his writings about the lesser chiefs in the Hawaiian culture. His dissertation "Mo'olelo Kaukau Ali'i, the Dynamics of Chiefly Service in the 'Oiwi Society" serves as the basis for much of the history curriculum taught at the UH-Manoa.

"Kumu Young has been an amazing intellect, a true patriot and one of the great humanists in our community," said Maenette Benham, dean of the UH Hawai'inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. "How he chose to live his life is an inspiration and reminder of what it means to be kind, humorous and humane."

In 2007, he was awarded the June Jones Foundation Community Service Award for outstanding community contributions and in 2002 he received the Frank P. Kernoghan Award from Kamehameha Schools for outstanding contributions to Hawaiian music and culture education.

Services will be held at St. Mark's Church, Sept. 13 at 9:15 a.m. A celebration of life will follow at Kamakakuokalani UH-Manoa from noon to 4 p.m. His ashes will be interred privately at a later date.