Giving was a way of life for Dorvin Leis | News, Sports, Jobs

A Maui businessman once recognized as the epitome of philanthropy for the millions of dollars he donated to the community over the years has died. Dorvin D. Leis passed away early Monday morning in his Kihei home. The 86-year-old was diagnosed with cancer five years ago.

A Maui businessman once recognized as the “epitome of philanthropy” for the millions of dollars he donated to the community over the years has died.

Dorvin D. Leis passed away early Monday morning in his Kihei home. The 86-year-old was diagnosed with cancer five years ago.

“Last week was a difficult week for him, he was up and down, so it was not a complete surprise, but certainly being the fighter that the was, expectations are that he has a couple more rounds in the battle,” Stephen Leis, his oldest son, said Monday afternoon.

Leis remembers his father as a “multifaceted guy with old-fashioned, blue-collar values.” As a family man, Dorvin Leis was honest and hardworking; as a businessman, he always backed up his employees; and as a community member, he always gave back, Stephen Leis said.

“The other day, a Little Leaguer knocked on the door selling bread to pay for his All-Stars trip to Honolulu,” he said, adding that his father had wanted to give the kid a $100 bill, but only had a $50, which the young boy gladly accepted.

Dorvin Leis, who was born in Riverside, Calif., moved with his family to Maui permanently in 1972, starting Dorvin D. Leis Co. as a backyard plumbing business. Over the last four decades, the business has grown to become the largest mechanical contractor in the state with more than 450 employees on Maui, Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island, according to the company website.

“He’s always been entrepreneurial . . . he’s got a whole history of business ventures,” Stephen Leis said of his father.

Dorvin Leis started his first business with the help of his parents and a friend when he was 12, selling limeade and lunches from a roadside stand to truckers, his son said.

“They put on their white business coats and went to work every day during the summer break. They sold limeade for 5 cents and offered a plate lunch for 25 cents. To ensure he served the best product and surpassed his competition, Dorvin made the ice cubes out of lime juice in order not to dilute the limeade.”

Over the years, Dorvin Leis had his own lawn-mowing service and lamp company, and delivered newspapers in his spare time. As a high-schooler, he read meters for the gas company four hours a day.

“He never sits still for too long; he never really retired,” Stephen Leis said.

Dorvin Leis and his wife, Betty, were honored with “Lei of Distinction” by the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in April. The prestigious recognition is reserved for extraordinary contributions to culture and the arts, and has only been presented one other time since the award was conceived in 2004.

“First of all, he loved Maui,” Betty Leis said by phone Monday. “And he loved giving back to the Maui community, not just in money but in time and effort and anything we could do. . . . When we moved here, we really didn’t have a lot. We made our money here, and so he felt the community deserved some of that.”

The couple met in high school, raised seven kids and celebrated 68 years together this year.

Over the last 43 years, the Leises have given more than $10 million to hundreds of nonprofit community organizations in Hawaii, including the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, the Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation, Maui Family YMCA, Hospice Maui, Kihei Little League, Kihei Canoe Club, Maui Historical Society and The Nature Conservancy. The dining facility at University of Hawaii Maui College is named “The Leis Family Class Act Restaurant” in honor of the family and business, which donated more than $1 million to the school.

For their philanthropic work, Dorvin and Betty Leis have collected numerous honors. In 2003, the couple received the Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Aloha Chapter. The following year, Dorvin Leis received the Maui Chamber of Commerce’s T.S. Shinn Award. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Maui County Council of the Boy Scouts, and the couple was on the People who Made a Difference list compiled by The Maui News. The Leis’ company was recognized with the 2008 business leadership Hawaii Community Spirit Award by Pacific Business News.

Dorvin Leis is survived by his wife and six children, Luke of Sacramento, Calif.; Stanley (Becky) Leis of Eagle, Ind.; Stephen (Sherry) Leis of Kihei; Nancy (Ralph) Overton of Kihei; Charles (Cindy) Leis of Eagle, Ind.; and 13 grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

* Eileen Chao can be reached at echao@mauinews.com.

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