Anyone who surfed the Newport Beach area in the 80's through the 90's
knew Gary and if you did not know him you could see him from a
mile away with his signature florescent wetsuits and boards.
I first meet Gary while surfing contests around southern california in the 80's. After moving to Costa Mesa in the mid 90's I started shaping out of Gary's glass shop "Clear Water Glassing". I shaped out of his glass shop for many years. He was quit the prankster and there was never a duel moment in that shop, we laughed a lot, we surfed a lot, we had our ups and downs and we built a lot of surfboards together, and though it all we became pretty good friends.
Gary lost his battle with cancer yesterday, he will be truly missed.
SURF ON MY BROTHER
4 comments:
That's very sad.
Dano,
Boy did I have an emotional moment yesterday...
Gary was a staple in the Newport Beach Surf Community. His memory will live on forever.
Adam G
Dano: Thanks for having this blog on your site. I just returned from a long offshore trip to a voicemail about Gary's passing, and I had to pull off the road to get it together. We had been talking every 2-4 weeks since he received the cancer diagnosis earlier this year, and even at the worst point, he was determined to beat the odds. I knew it was getting really bad when he stopped returing calls 8 weeks ago.
Gary and I had our ups and downs too...but, all the way back to the 6th grade playing soccer...during high school fighting over who saw the hottest girl first...and on through adulthood spatting over what always became trivial matters later, we always got past it. He was the kind of guy that valued positive vibes and loved his family more than anything in the material world.
I'll really miss the holiday and B-Day calls that Gary gave me each and every year...he was my only childhood friend that remembered that wonderful kindness.
Gary...you will always be in our hearts and our memories as a great friend, with a true heart of gold. I miss you being here on earth, but wish your spirit peace and tranquility as you move on to the next session.
Much love...
-Jon Simon
Dano,
I moved to Wyoming a few months ago and have been totally out of the loop. I just learned about Gary's passing while checking out some photos on Newportsurfshots.com.
I was with some friends a few weeks ago and was telling them about how my first summer job was at Clearwater (1996). I told them about how I painted the place, then on the last day I knocked over the paint can onto the new linoleum floor. Gary was very quick to forgive me and I will never forget how generous he was and all the laughs we had while working there.
It is really difficult for me to believe that he is gone. I saw him surfing a little over a year ago and he looked exactly the same as ever. By the looks of him I would have never guessed that he would go at such a young age. I am truly shocked and saddened.
My heart goes out to Gary's family.
Rest in Peace, Gary.
-Matthew Bush
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