Bill’s sponsor for his induction into the Hall of Fame wrote, “Monahan was not particularly big but his attitude and desire made him outstanding. For him to succeed as a tackle in football at 175 – 185 pounds against opponents often outweighing him by more than 50 pounds – from his Punahou days through Dartmouth and into the various Bowl games – is remarkable. His conduct in sports exemplified the Punahou athlete.” How true!This article appears as originally published in the Summer 1982 issue of the Punahou Bulletin.
At Punahou, Bill won seven letters – in football (3), tennis (3), and track (1). He was an All Star tackle in his senior year and captain of Punahou’s championship tennis teams in his junior and senior years. He also found time to be student body president in 1947.
Entering Dartmouth, Bill immediately became a member of the freshman football squad as first-string tackle. Joining the varsity the following year he made Dartmouth football history by winning, at 185 pounds, All-Ivy League, All-New England and All-Eastern honors in both is junior and senior years. A participant in the 1951 North-South game he was named the Outstanding Lineman. These honors led to his selection that year as the first “Local Boy” ever to play in the Hula bowl. Bill also wrestled while at Dartmouth and played tennis whenever he could. After graduation from Dartmouth, Bill saw active duty as a Marine colonel in the Korean conflict. This was followed by nine years on the Punahou faculty as a teacher, coach and administrator from 1954 to 1963. During his seven years as a football coach at Punahou, Bill had the distinction of being assistant head coach of the team that won the first ILH title in 29 years – and then, as head coach, winning the title again the next year. Leaving his position as Punahou Junior Academy supervisor, Bill obtained his doctorate at U.C. Berkeley and then spent 13 years on the mainland as a school superintendent. During this period he won over 20 tennis titles including two years as men’s singles champion, 35 and over, state of Illinois. Returning to Hawaii in 1977 he settled on Maui where he organized and now heads a high technology corporation. He also served a term in our State House of Representatives. All this activity hasn’t slowed him down one bit. At age 49 he took up canoe paddling and in 1981, ’82 and ’83, paddled in the Molokai Channel race. This year (1984) he was a member of the Maui crew which recently paddled in the International Polynesian Canoe Federation’s championship meet in California. Oh yes, he still finds time for tennis, horseback riding, fishing and scuba diving!