OHS gym to be named after Molifua By: LOUISE ESOLA - Staff Writer OCEANSIDE ---- When the renovation and expansion work is completed this year, Oceanside High's gym will be named after Wally Molifua, a 29-year Oceanside High alumnus, educator, coach and praised role model. The Oceanside Unified School District school board Tuesday night voted unanimously to name the gym after Molifua, who died at the age of 53 in April after a struggle with cancer. Superintendent Ken Noonan first requested that the board, which decides the names for school buildings and campuses, call the gym "Oceanside High School Memorial Gymnasium" and add a permanent memorial in the building to honor Molifua and other educators who made their mark on the school's 100-year history. His recommendation, made public late last week, led to a conference room packed with Molifua's family, colleagues, friends, former students and other community members, many who made tearful pleas urging the Noonan to rethink his recommendation. Noonan changed his mind moments before the vote. Fighting back tears, he said he had never changed his recommendation at a board meeting, but had to do so because of the testimonies. "They really touched me," he said, after the vote. "They spoke about recognizing someone important in the community." Board member Janet Lacy, who made the motion to name the gym after Molifua, joked that Noonan's recommendation would have been turned down anyway. Molifua grew up in Oceanside alongside 10 brothers and sisters. Raised by a single mother, he attended Oceanside High and later graduated from Brigham Young University. He returned to Oceanside to teach and to be a "pillar in the community," his brother, George Molifua, said. Sili Molifua, his sister who teaches at Oceanside High, said her brother's name would help encourage students of similar backgrounds and challenges. "He (represents) the possibility, he is what we can refer to when we say can it can be done," she said. Once considered a staple of the athletic department, Molifua coached tennis, soccer, track and field and football. In the late 1970s, he twice led the soccer team to league championships. Molifua taught earth science and physical education and stepped away from teaching and coaching in 2004 after he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. His former students who spoke to the board Tuesday night said they would sign up for extra physical education classes just to have him as a teacher again. "Naming the gym after him gives those who didn't know him a chance to know his legacy," said Elizabeth Erekson, a class of 2004 graduate. Frank Zimmerman, an Oceanside High coach and class of 1986 graduate, said Molifua showed him that anything is possible. "I am one of those kids (who struggled)," he said. "I am the reason his name needs to be there." The Oceanside High gym is in the midst of being refurbished and expanded to include a two-story wing that will house a locker room and athletic department offices. That $6.7 million work is scheduled to be finished sometime this year, according to district officials. Contact staff writer Louise Esola at (760) 901-4151 or lesola@nctimes.com.