Surfers honor Casimir Harazda
Jack Linthicum
Surfers honor Melbourne friend
Man recently died of heart attack
BY SUSANNE CERVENKA
FLORIDA TODAY
For Casimir Harazda, his son Chris is like a ship that has sailed out
to sea: He can't be seen but is not gone.
"He's still there, but he's just over the horizon," said the father of
the avid surfer and devout Buddhist who died last Sunday after
suffering a heart attack.
About 200 family members, friends and fellow surfers paid tribute to
the younger Harazda, 54, of Melbourne in a ceremony Saturday morning
at the beach across from Patrick Air Force Base.
Several dozen surfers paddled into the ocean, placing tropical flowers
into the water before catching waves back in, a traditional tribute in
the surfing community.
Chris Harazda was surfing off the beach in Jupiter when he began
having chest pains. He paddled in and died shortly after.
Harazda was an acupuncturist who recently opened a new healing
business with his wife, Janet, a massage therapist.
He worked to excel at all he did from surfing to music, healing to
compassion, friends said.
"Every wave he caught -- and he caught thousands of them -- he would
say a prayer for everyone so they wouldn't suffer," Janet said. "He
knew it wasn't really about him. It's about being a human being and
how precious it is to be human."
Virginia Savage of Indialantic said she quickly knew Chris was a
special person.
"Chris was one person who truly practiced what he believed," she said.
Friends from across the country sent items as a way to remember
Harazda, friend Bob Freeman said.
Friend John Rogers donated the 1940s-era wooden surfboard he restored
to the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum in Harazda's name so his legacy would
be attached to the local surfing community.
Another fellow surfer, Jerry Quimbly sent leis by overnight mail from
Hawaii, Freeman said. Janet Harazda wore one set, while Freeman
paddled another in the water to honor Harazda.
"No matter who you were, when you met Chris you knew you met a
profound person, a soulful person," said his friend Tom Neilson of
Indian Harbour Beach.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS01/712230326&template=news0306
rodndtube
wrote:
Tumak, as he is known on the paipo forums, was a great guy. We spent
parts of two days together a few years ago surfing some of the Space
Coast breaks and sharing part of an evening together at Satellite
Beach's Da Kine Burrito, during a Surfrider F. fundraiser that
featured the premier of ESM's Always Right. Tumak had a great spirit.
I will never forget his grommet's stoke during a morning session at
Picnic Tables during some TS Epsilon 3-5' leftovers when he scored a
super fine tube ride right. We had split the peak and as he angled
right you could see the entire lip pitch over and envelope him in all
of the sea's glory. Again, Tumak was one stoked fella! And that is how
I shall remember him.
http://www.rodndtube.com/paipo/riders/Chris_Harazda/Harazda.shtml
There are several threads on the 2ndLight Forums that are worth
browsing under the heading of Logjammer or Chris:
http://www.2ndlight.com/fusetalk/forum/categories.cfm?catid=3&entercat=y
johnisa...@hotmail.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
Hey there y'all
We here in Tampa don't quite get the waves that Chris gravitated (or
elevated) toward on the East Coast of Florida or elsewhere. If I had
not met Chris when I did around 1983 my life so far would have been
completely different. Completely. Take heart to all grieving. Chris is
still teaching and learning. Most of all I love you. The gentle hand.
The razor sharp attention. The cloud that passes with a breath of
fresh air and a half-concealed reminder of what is important here. Ha-
Ha Harazda. Not to make light, but to make lighter. Ta'at Tvam Assi
thank you Chris & Jan
-john isaac meats