{"id":4756,"date":"2026-05-11T17:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4756"},"modified":"2026-05-11T17:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:33:51","slug":"tributes-pour-in-for-legendary-surfer-paul-strauch-known-for-his-aloha-spirit-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4756","title":{"rendered":"Tributes pour in for legendary surfer Paul Strauch, known for his aloha spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>If you leave the water with a smile on your face, you\u2019ve really surfed that day. And if you can encourage someone else to smile while they are surfing, then you\u2019ve helped someone carry away the aloha spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4755\">Aliso Niguel softball beats San Clemente for undefeated South Coast title<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The sentiment was shared by legendary Hawaiian surfer Paul Strauch in 2015 during his induction into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, where his name will be forever engraved at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street.<\/p>\n<p>Strauch, known as the \u201cgentleman surfer\u201d and a Hawaiian who brought the aloha spirit and culture to Southern California\u2019s early-era surf scene, has died at age 83, his daughter, Summer Strauch, shared on social media on Monday, April 27.<\/p>\n<p>Tributes to the champion surfer, a San Clemente resident, have since poured in from around the globe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy dad always said the ocean held the secrets of life,\u201d Summer Strauch said in her post. \u201cFor him, it wasn\u2019t just water, it was wisdom, healing and endless possibility. The sea shaped who he was. It taught him resilience and filled him with a profound love for life and people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul Strauch, born in Honolulu in 1943 and raised there, was mentored by the father of modern-day surfing, Duke Kahanamoku.<\/p>\n<p>By the \u201960s, Strauch was becoming an influential figure in the world of surfing, winning the junior men\u2019s division at the Makaha International in 1959, the Peru International in 1963, and taking second place in the 1965 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational, according to his bio on the Duke Foundation website.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 1965, he was one of only four surfers to be selected for the Duke Kahanamoku surf team, traveling to share the aloha spirit as a growing surge of surfers were riding waves at home and abroad.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>That same year, he won the World Surfing Championships in the \u201cSmall Board Division\u201d in Peru, the following year he won the Hawai\u2019i State title and two years later, the prestigious Makaha International.<\/p>\n<p>Strauch was known for his big bottom turns in big waves, but also his graceful moves on longboards. He created the \u201ccheater-five,\u201d with one foot to the tip of the surfboard while the body is crouched low, a stylish move still done today.<\/p>\n<p>When Strauch moved to the mainland, landing in San Clemente, he became a regular fixture at San Onofre State Beach, the long rolling wave often called the Waikiki of California. For decades, he was a leader for the Hawaiian Surf Club at San Onofre.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to his Surfing Walk of Fame honor, Strauch was inducted into the Surfers\u2019 Hall of Fame in 2004, as well as the Hawai\u2019i Waterman Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Surfing Heritage and Culture Center founder Dick Metz recalled meeting Strauch when the Hawaiian was still in high school. Metz was stationed in Hawaii while in the military.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4754\">USA Surfing\u2019s Skvarna wins first-ever U.S. men\u2019s longboard gold at PASA Games<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><svg><g><g><g><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cHe always had a smile on his face, always pleasant,\u201d Metz said. \u201cPaul will always be known as a gentleman surfer, a genuinely nice guy and a guy you would always want to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For years, Strauch served as executive director and board member for the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente \u2014 while there, he led an effort to get the famed \u201cEndless Summer\u201d film included in the Smithsonian Museum, which it was in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Strauch and women\u2019s champion surfer Jericho Poppler were the inspiration for the California Surfing Day logo, lobbying officials in Sacramento to make surfing the state\u2019s official sport in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Strauch said his objective was to raise awareness about surfing, not just the act of it, but about the connection to the ocean and to make others mindful about protecting the ocean.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a Hawaiian saying, \u201cmalama ke kai,\u201d which translates to \u201ccherish the sea,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a resource everyone should continue to enjoy and be a part of,\u201d Strauch said. \u201cThat\u2019s my whole mission, to love and care for the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>David Matuszak, who wrote the book \u201cSan Onofre: Memories of a Legendary Surfing Beach,\u201d recalled meeting Strauch when he was interviewing key figures for his book.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI consider him to be among the finest human beings I ever knew,\u201d Matuszak wrote in a tribute.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost importantly, there was no finer human being that ever rode a wave. Humble, unassuming and gentle. The epitome of the aloha spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul Strauch was someone who always made people feel seen and cared for, Summer Strauch said, a surfer who lived life fully, with courage, joy and a freedom that inspired others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough surfing, my dad didn\u2019t just master waves, he mastered living. His kindness and love moved outward like ripples in the water, reaching farther than he ever knew,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you ask anyone what they remember most, they\u2019ll tell you about his smile, the kind that lit up a room and made you feel like you mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=4753\">Man thought Irvine police chief called him, got scammed of $25,000<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Strauch, known as the \u201cgentleman surfer\u201d and a Hawaiian who brought the aloha spirit and culture to Southern California\u2019s early-era surf scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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