Eaton’s passing follows fellow shaper Becker’s, by just 7 days
by Kevin Cody Pioneer surfer and surfboard shaper Mike Eaton passed away at his home from a stroke on the Big Island of Hawaii last Thursday, at the age of 86. Eaton’s death came just seven days after his childhood friend, Big Island neighbor and fellow South Bay surfer and shaper Phil Becker died of cancer, at the age of 81. Eaton built boards for many of the world’s top surfers, among them Australian Peter “PT” Townend, surfing’s first world champion. “I owed a lot to Mike,” Townend said upon learning of Eaton’s death. “He befriended me during my first winter on the North Shore in ’72. giving me the 7-foot-10 Bing pink Colorflow that I rode to the finals of the Duke at Sunset that year.” Eaton also shaped boards for another ‘70s world champion, Jeff Hackman, of Palos Verdes. “Hackman was sponsored by Surfboards Hawaii, but he liked Eaton’s boards better, so he had Eaton ghost shape his boards,” recalled Tim Ritter, director of the Hennessey Series Paddleboard Races. Eaton was also a highly regarded paddleboard shaper. “What set Mike Eaton and Phil Becker apart from other shapers was their perfect rails, which come from shaping thousands of boards,” said Mike Purpus, of Hermosa…
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