Hermosa Beach surfer Pete Briggs ‘rode the nose’ ’til the end
In 1958, Pete Briggs, Ronnie Garner and I went to see “Gidget.” We started surfing the next day.
Pete was 11, Ronnie and I were 10. We all lived on 30th Street in Hermosa Beach, about a block from the beach, and surfed every day without wetsuits on some of the first foam boards.
on my ‘68 Surfboards by Jacobs Mike Purpus Noserider model, which Briggs was instrumental in getting reissued about 10 years ago,
Pete passed away from cancer on June 3. He was 69.
Pete Briggs in the 1960s.
We both came from Catholic families that refused to let us surf on Sundays until after Mass. So we would ride our bikes to 6 a.m. Mass at American Martyrs Church in Manhattan Beach so we could be in the water by 8 a.m. It was freezing cold all winter but we didn’t care so long as we could surf before it blew out.
Pete went to Bishop Montgomery while I went to Mira Costa. We surfed together every day after school. On Saturday morning, Father “Iggy” Ignatius, one of Pete’s teachers, would ride his bike with a surfboard rack on the back from Redondo to 30th Street in Hermosa just to surf with us.
Pete and I were members of Jacobs Surf Team, Bay Cities Surf Club and Windansea Surf Club. We competed side by side in all the contests.
Pete Briggs at San Onofre two summers ago.
Pete worked in aerospace as a toolmaker but continued to compete in contests. In 1998, he won the 1998 San Onofre Classic.
Two summers ago, we relived our youth by spending a day surfing at San Onofre with Don “Old Guys Rule” Craig and Skip Frye. Afterwards, Pete complained of what he told us was an internal staph infection. It required multiple hospitalizations, but he was still the best surfer among his old friends.
Briss is survived by his wife of 46 years Marilyn, sons Matt, Jeremy and Greg, grandchildren Sienna and Cameron, his mother Rose and brother Bill.
A memorial paddleout will be held Saturday, September 10 at San Onofre, in front of Dogwatch. ER