HONOLULU – Former University of Hawai'i basketball player Col. William "Billy" Olds is the recipient of the 2019 Kāne Fernandez Community Service Award, presented by the UH Mānoa Letterwinners Club.
 
Olds will receive his award during halftime of Saturday's men's basketball game against UC Riverside. 
 
The UHLWC presents the award annually to a past letterwinner who has volunteered unselfishly to further advance the community. The award is named for the late Kāne Fernandez, chairman and chief executive office of Fernandez Entertainment, who passed away in 2001 and is one of the original members of the UHLWC.
 
Olds is an active member of the Letterwinners Club's Board of Directors and the UH Alumni Association, Las Vegas Chapter. He volunteers for various events when UH teams make the trip to Las Vegas, including coordinating LWC-sponsored golf tournaments.
 
Olds played basketball for UH in the late 1950s while concurrently serving in the U.S. Army Reserves Special Forces, ROTC program and working full time as a police officer. After graduating from UH, he received a commission in the U.S. Army, where he was deployed to Vietman twice and was awarded the Bronze Star and two purple hearts. Col. Olds retired after 30 years of service.
 
While serving as a professor of military science at UH, Olds successfully recruited students into the ROTC program from the school as well as other universities in O'ahu. He established the Veteran's Court in Las Vegas, to represent veterans in need of representation. He also annually volunteers at the Shriner's Professional Open, which benefits disadvantaged children around the country.
 
Interestingly, Olds had one major movie part, starring with John Wayne in the "The Green Berets."