Award-winning urban planner Robin Foster, an expert on coastal issues who offered free services to many local nonprofit organizations, died July 23 at his Kailua home after an extended illness. He was 58.

Foster was one of the founders of the Waikiki Community Center and an active community volunteer.

The Baltimore native moved to Honolulu from Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1963 with his family. He graduated from Punahou School and Yale University, then earned a master's degree at the University of Hawai'i in public health and in urban and regional planning.

Foster joined PlanPacific as a vice president in 1995 after nearly 15 years with the city, including a stint as head of the planning department. At PlanPacific, he won a national American Planning Association award for his 2000 revision of Kaua'i County's general plan.

In November, UH presented Foster with the Dinell Outstanding Urban and Regional Planning Alumni Award. The school noted Foster's "stubborn insistence on doing what is right, especially for those whose voices are seldom heard."

Survivors include his wife, Deborah Pope; sons, John and William; father, James W. Foster; a brother and sister, Nelson and Dorothy, in California; and aunts.

A private August service is planned. Contributions in his memory can be made to Kokua Kalihi Valley, Mental Health Kokua, or the Amyloidosis Treatment and Research Center at Boston University.