PV Surf Club’s Tulie Clark remembered

Hermosa Beach Surfer’s Walk of Fame pioneer inductee Calvin “Tulie” Clark was buried Tuesday morning at Green Hills Memorial Park wearing his green Palos Verdes Surf Club jacket. He died Friday at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimers.

 Hermosa Beach Surfer’s Walk of Fame pioneer inductee Calvin “Tulie” Clark was buried Tuesday morning at Green Hills Memorial Park wearing his green Palos Verdes Surf Club jacket. He died Friday at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimers. Clark grew up in Redondo Beach and rode his horse to Malaga Cove School in 1926 when it opened in Palos Verdes Estates. The following year he began surfing at the Cove in Palos Verdes on his mom’s wooden ironing board. In 1934 he helped found the Palos Verdes Surfing Club.

Clark became a Los Angeles County Lifeguard and developer who built over 5,000 homes, many of them in Torrance and Palos Verdes. In 1964 he provided financial backing for International Surfing magazine, which would become Surfing. But the achievement he seemed to take the most pride in was being the first surfer to beat legendary waterman Pete Peterson in a paddleboard race. In a 1995 interview, the 78-year-old Clark told Matt Warshaw he still rode his 11-foot Bob Simmons balsa board at San Onofre. 

Following Tuesday’s graveside service, Leroy Grannis, Rich Meine and Fenton Scholes, three of the five surviving members of the Palos Verdes Surf Club, joined Clark’s family and friends in a celebration of his life at Hennessey’s in Redondo Beach. The Palos Verdes Surf Club members had been meeting every Tuesday at the restaurant. 

Clark was predeceased by wife Georgia of 64 years and brother Wilford “Bud” Clark. He is survived by daughter Cindy Hoy and grandson Joey Hoy. 

Donation in his memory may be made to Surfrider Foundation, South Bay Chapter (http://www.surfrider-southbay.org/), P.O. Box 3825, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266. A paddleout in his honor is being planned. ER