Robert James Gleason

January 11, 1953 – July 25, 2025

The international diving community (SCUBA) and Hawaii lost a legendary diver, veteran Captain, tourism pioneer, and one of the best joke tellers to ever put on a wetsuit.

Maui’s own Capt. Byrd Gleason, age 72, passed from this world after a very short stay at Maui Memorial Medical Center on Sunday, July 20th, 2025. His wife, fellow master diver and inseparable life partner of more than 30 years, Kim Gleason, was at his side.

A tongue cancer survivor of more than 20 years, some of the chronic side-effects of his successful cancer treatment ultimately complicated his COPD and death. He told jokes about his medical conditions – but never a complaint.

Byrd was born Robert James Gleason in Hartford, CT on January 11, 1953. An itinerant avian with superb aim dropped a present on his head (dead center) around age 8. Witnessed by his two brothers, his original nickname was Bird Sh__ . Too young to say that word in our house, it was changed to Bird and then Byrd.

Capt. Byrd kept the name for the rest of his amazing life and signed his name with a simple bird wing. Few ever knew his birth name unless you saw his passport or airline ticket.

He attended Cathedral Grammar School and Northwest Catholic High School in CT. He briefly attended Providence College for a year but elected, early on, to pursue his love of the ocean and diving as his life's work.

A competitive swimmer and athlete as a kid, he became a fledgling “waterman” at the early age of 14 in the waters of Rhode Island, CT. His teacher was his older brother, age 16 – who barely knew more than Byrd. Together, they would forge shared ocean odysseys for almost 60 years.

Byrd’s love of diving took him to the Florida Keys where he honed his diving skills and became a diving instructor.

With diving on his mind, Byrd (an accomplished restaurant manager in his early 20’s) ventured to Maui in the mid-70s to open the Whale’s Tail, a good-sized restaurant in sleepy “old” Lahaina Town.

He soon tired of the restaurant grind and turned back to his passion – water and diving.

Changing careers before he was 30, Byrd was a jack-of-all-diving trades. Deck hand, Dive Master, teaching SCUBA from shore, and becoming an integral part of the Maui diving and tourism community. His prowess as a boat driver led to becoming a First Mate and ultimately earning his USCG captain’s ticket.

While working for Central Pacific Divers in Lahaina, Byrd met noted underwater photographer Ed Robinson - then a CPD USCG captain who mentored him above and below water.

That friendship would last for the rest of Byrd's life, and when Ed founded Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures in Kihei, HI, Byrd joined him as a boat captain and manager of dive operations.

There was a fantastic interlude between Lahaina and Kihei – namely the Hotel Lanai. The island of Lanai in the old days was a pineapple plantation with a single 10 room hotel that never made money. Byrd took it over and turned it into a “dedicated dive resort” – the very first in HI. Divers would come for a week, specifically to dive every day, and stay at the modest hotel.

Most folks said it would fail. It broke even in its first year – and flourished (90% occupancy) in its second. Byrd ran the hotel, did the books, ran the dives, and some days cooked the eggs and cleaned the rooms as well. That was Capt. Byrd, and when developers bought the property in Lanai – his successful diving tourism project came to an end.

Byrd returned to Maui, this time to Kihei, and rejoined his friend, mentor, and fellow Captain, Ed Robison. Byrd worked with Ed till his retirement – introducing thousands of divers to the ocean while forging new standards for dive captains and diving professionals along the way.

In the early days, Maui and Hawaii were not considered a destination for serious divers. Vacationers, sure. Nice snorkeling, sure. But over the years, Byrd and Ed changed that perception – showing people the incredible range and diversity of Maui diving. True diving tourism pioneers, both.

Byrd became the Dean of Maui Diving, and one of the most revered and respected diver/captains in the entire diving world. Few, if any, in the world matched his record at the wheel or his time underwater.

When Scuba Schools International (SSI) introduced its prestigious Platinum Pro 5000 Award (only awarded to divers with more than 5,000 lifetime dives) Byrd was inducted in the very first class in 1993.

Fewer than 1200 individuals worldwide, including Jacques Cousteau, have earned this honor. In fact, and a bit of trivia, Byrd was a "triple" Platinum Pro. The best estimate for his total dives is way over 18,000!

Capt. Byrd would spend most of his life taking people diving… and embracing the tremendous responsibilities of being a Captain. He considered both to be an honor, and his unique professionalism and expertise was acknowledged around the diving world.

While his knowledge of the ocean was vast, and his knowledge of diving encyclopedic, well before Google he amassed a personal library of the funniest jokes on the planet.

He kept them in his head, and a well-kept secret where he got most of them, but universally he is regarded as one of the absolute best joke tellers to ever drive a dive boat…

He could transform a mediocre joke and make you laugh, hard.

But one of his special jokes would reduce you to tears and uncontrollable laughter. Some were rated PG – many were not – and never told with malice toward anyone…

He is survived by his wife, Kim, sisters Ellen and Loretta (wife, Laurie Andrews), brother Bill (wife, Patti), and pre-deceased by his younger brother Charley. His niece Meg Gleason Pascucci, husband Matt Pascucci, and nephew Tim Gleason and family were revered visitors to Maui.

RIP Captain Byrd. With grateful thanks from the thousands of people you showed the incredible wonders of the underwater world, for your 50 plus year love affair with Maui and Hawaii, your tireless professionalism, and unmatched ability to make us smile and laugh.

Grateful thanks to Ed Robinson for his lifetime friendship, the Maui diving community for their support and friendship, and Maui Hospital for their fine care of Capt. Byrd. And to Kim Gleason, thank you for taking such wonderful care of Byrd. Always at his side, you were not only the love of his life and eternal dive buddy, but his rock as well.

Bill Gleason, Byrd’s brother, and a fellow Platinum Pro 5000 diver. The mainland, July, 2025. Fair winds and calm seas, brother and best friend.