Mike Latronic
Since the passing of professional surfer and lifeguard Tamayo Perry on June 23, 2024, the North Shore community and many surfers across the world have been grieving his loss.
Nearly three weeks later on Sunday, July 14, the funeral service at Sunset Beach Neighborhood Park began under cloudy skies and a cool wind against a sweltering late afternoon humidity.
More than a thousand people gathered on the grassy field at Sunset Beach Elementary School directly across from the infamous Banzai Pipeline to celebrate the life of a truly beloved character. The hugs, kisses, smiles, handshakes and tears told the story of a hugely popular, authentic, and appreciated man.
Related: Surf World Reacts to Tamayo Perry’s Tragic Death
“It was the biggest honorary gathering in the surfing world that I have ever seen in my adult life and perhaps the most touching,” noted Mike Latronic, Freesurf Magazine publisher and long-time North Shore resident. “As a fallen first responder of the City and County of Honolulu, he was honored by the presence and salute of nearly 100 of his coworkers and associates.”
Like all truly beloved Hawaiians, nearly everyone on the North Shore has a Tamayo story or two to share. Or maybe a dozen or two.
“Tamayo was as well-loved as any lifeguard in Hawaii,” noted Derrick Doerner, a former lifeguard and friend who knew full well what Tamayo’s work entailed.
Mike Latronic
Marty Hoffman remembers meeting Tamayo when he was limping in from a heavy surf session. Tamayo pulled up in his 3-wheeler beach mobile and gave him a ride to his place. Not required of lifeguards of course. Just the way Tamayo rolled. You couldn’t help but get to know Tamayo if you surfed the stretch of beach he guarded.
Then again you might have met him at his church, where everyone felt his infectious spirit and great faith that stretched far beyond the parish doors. Tamayo’s pastor JD Farag was the first to speak of his faith, that he would walk alongside his savior Jesus Christ. His pastor, best friends, and family had beautiful words.
But even if you didn’t really know Tamayo Perry or only met him briefly or simply heard about him as an amazing Pipeline surfer, Sunday revealed something special – about surfing, about lifeguards, about the North Shore and Hawaii itself.
“He was such a character, so full of positive light,” Michelle Maldonado, the General Manager of Rajanee Thai restaurant told me. Rajanee provided food for the event, “but you can’t make enough food for an outpouring like this” she said. “We were relying on ‘the Sermon on the Mount’ type of help.”
Mike Latronic
As so many of his friends recalled Sunday, Tamayo had a big laugh. And his storytelling expertise was perhaps only matched by his lovely Australian wife, Emilia.
“The amount of aloha we have been shown in the days and weeks following Tamayo’s death has been tremendously comforting and healing,” Emilia shared.
Articulate, funny, but intensely dedicated to the job of saving lives, he could be hard on those who ignored the rules of water safety or put others in jeopardy with their reckless disregard. He would also share with others his brushes with death he had experienced – the dangerous situations when saving a person in danger threatened his own life.
Several years ago while taking a surf break at Pipeline, he received a “scalping” from a loose fin to his skull. Twenty-five stitches and more than fifty staples were required to repair that little fin slice.
Mike Latronic
After the ceremonies at Sunset Elementary, a paddle out followed. Held at Pipeline, the spot he loved the most, this embodiment of surfing culture’s tradition was a sight to see. With roughly 500 to 1,000 people in the water, a helicopter dropped thousands of flowers into the lineup. Hawaiian chants both joyful and sad were heard in the circle at outside Pipeline.
The legendary Hawaiian sailing vessel the Hokule’a made a special voyage to the Pipeline to honor a Hawaiian hero.
“We couldn’t really make a circle, so we just gathered around the Hokule’a,” said Conner Wagner, a nephew of another fallen Hawaiian legend, Mark Foo.
It was well-known that Tamayo himself had said he was neither afraid nor sad to leave this earth.
“It’s a lotto game out here,” Tamayo once told me. “You’re literally playing the universal lotto, in that sense. And eventually, the odds are against you.”
Even in his passing Tamayo showed he had already found the winning ticket. And he shared the soulful proceeds with his friends, family, and community – and left the world a far richer place.
Related: Legendary Pipeline Surfer Tamayo Perry Killed in Shark Attack