Lake passed away Wednesday, but not before enriching thousand of lives with his knowledge, experience and gentle manner.

Lake was born on Maui in 1937. At an early age took an interest in his heritage. He studied Hawaiian culture and when ready shared his expertise with anyone eager to learn.

Lake then spent his life perpetuating many things Hawaiian including hula, language and traditional chant.

"Before the state of Hawaii mandated that all high school students had to take a semester of Hawaiian history, he was already doing it. So he established this program at St. Louis School, and we're so thankful for that," said Tim Los Banos, Dean of Academics at St. Louis School.

Lake taught at St. Louis from 1962 until 1993. That is when he moved to Chaminade University where he taught Hawaiian language and founded Halau Mele, the Hawaiian Academy of Arts, Music and Dance.

"He was at the center of this cultural renaissance," said David Coleman, Chaminade Dean of Humanities. Coleman said lake would ask, "How do we find ourselves as Hawaiians today? And how do we design and live in a community that is open to all people, that we can really live aloha beyond the cliche. This is really what he was about," Coleman said.

Sam Gon, Senior Scientist and Cultural Advisor at the Nature Conservancy in Hawaii learned chant and much more from Lake.

"I think among the practitioners of hula and chant today, if you mentioned his name, there would be this quiet nod of confirmation that here is a man who contributed really significantly to Hawaiian cultural practice," Gon told KGMB9. "That's a legacy that will persist for a long long time," Gon added.

Lake struggled with cancer for the past five years. Sunday he was admitted to Straub Clinic and Hospital with pneumonia. He died early Wednesday with family at his side.

John Keola Lake was 70.

---