Steve Knauer Passing

Hello Everyone,

Tracy Sizemore just sent me the news of Steve Knauer's passing.  Below is a letter from Steve's good friend, Bob Nealy, and some photos.

Dale

Hi friends,

It is with deep regret that I inform you of Steve Knauer's passing last November, 2014, evidently of heart related issues. Please pass this email on to others that knew Steve.  Steve lived in the Ewa Beach, Hawaii, community during recent years, involved with local neighborhood and community affairs.   He was one of my best friends and we had a lot of good times, with many of you, back in the day at school during swim and water polo practices, lifeguarding and general adolescent BS!

 

We didn't take many photos back before social media days, so I copied team photos and pictures of Steve from the Newport Harbor yearbooks and also wrote the attached thoughts and memories of Steve in school.

Please remember Steve's fun nature and love of the beach, the swim and water polo association, Coach Newland's influence, and other such stories that would warm Aimee's heart with happy, fond memories of her father. 

  

The Funeral will be held on Saturday March 28th and the lions club will be having an event in memorial of Steve on Saturday April 4^th.

Here are a few photos to enjoy…. Everyone still looks the same, right?

Best regards,

Bob Nealy

Home office

949-492-8922

Mobile

949-933-1850

surfmore@cox.net

a new story

Hello everyone,

I have been remiss about adding stories to my lifeguard blog site.  I hope to get back at it now.  You can click on the blog oldlagunalifeguard.blogspot.com to see the next story.  It is titled:

A Life Changing Event - By Al Mendez

Many of you will be able to relate to this story.  One of the most common themes of all lifeguard stories I have collected is just what the title states - becoming a lifeguard changed my life.  It certainly changed my life.

If any one has a story they would like to write and send me I would greatly appreciate receiving it.  If we do not write our own story then our history will be lost forever.  No one else is going to write it for us and we are slowly losing the old timers who still know the stories first hand.  Young guards seldom write their stories because they don't think of themselves as being part of history.  This morning is already part of history so it is worhty of being recorded.  Remember, today is the first day of a story that will become lost if no one records it.  Please consider writing something, short or long, new or old, I keep everything.

This past month I have traveled half way around the world via email to help two people make contact.  A friend of Heves McClelland, Bruce Hair, was trying to find Heves' daughter to give her a poem handwritten on a placemat in a bar by her father when he lived in Mexico more than 30 years ago.  Heves guarded in the 30s and his daughter now lives in Kansas.  With the help of John Parlette I found Heves wife, Diana, and she got me in contact with Mary, Heves' daughter.  Bruce lives in Perth, Diana lives in Washington and Mary is in Kansas.  Once again keeping in touch with all of you paid off. 

Soon the sculpture John Parlette made to honor Heves and his poem will be placed on Main Beach near the new HQ.  Heves' poem is on the sculpture.

If you change your email address or location please write and let me know so I can maintain contact.

Dale Ghere

guarded 1960 to 1974