The founder of one of Southern California's most beloved surf shops, Don Hansen of Hansen Surfboards, has died at the age of 89, the company announced Friday.
Hansen founded his eponymous surf shop in 1961, where he became known for his surfboard shaping skills. He died over the weekend, a company memorial said. A paddle-out will be scheduled at a later date.
"Don was a pioneer in surfing, an innovator, a competitor in the sky and an adventurer on land," the company's Facebook page read. "But beyond his range of accomplishments, he will be remembered most for his kindness, his mentorship and the way he made people feel seen and believed in."
Born in Redfield, South Dakota in 1936, Hansen was first introduced to surfing by two fellow students at the University of South Dakota who had left the surf and sun of Southern California to study in the Great Plains' cold winters. Hansen packed up and left the Dakotas to begin his career on the waves in Coronado.
After a stint in the army, Hansen would eventually land in Santa Cruz, where he apprenticed under surfing legend Jack O'Neill. During this time period, he would "continue to hone his craft and shape for other notable surfing icons such as Hobie (Alter) and (Hap) Jacobs, before making the ultimate surfing pilgrimage," a statement from the company read.
In 1961 Hansen headed to the surfing capital of the North Shore of Oahu, where he would found Hansen Surfboards in a small shack at the end of a dirt road. While in Hawaii, Hansen would not only shape surfboards, but prove he could ride the waves, winning the Tandem National Surfing Championships, placing second at the Makaha Tandem Surfing World Championships and being featured on the cover of Surfer Magazine.
Later that year, Hansen moved his business to in Cardiff-by-the-Sea and found an exploding market for surfboards in the 1960s. He created some of his most iconic models of boards in this period, including the 50-50, Competitor, Classic, and Superlight — which are still in production today.
In the 1970s, Hansen expanded to a retail business still open on South Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas. It remains the largest surf shop in San Diego County and is still family owned and operated.
"Above all, Don was a family man," the company tribute to its founder read. "His greatest pride lived in the people closest to him and the life he built alongside them. Don's legacy will leave a lasting impression on this community he loved so much. His story is carried forward in them through the traditions he started and the love he gave so fully."
Hansen is survived by wife Shirley, children Christian, Heidi and Josh and grandchildren Makena, Jack and Saylor.
