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Mostly Cloudy ‘A friend to so many’
Community mourns loss of L.B. teacher, surfer Daniel Bobis
“I haven’t taken it in yet,” Cliff Skudin said of the death of his close friend, Long Beach resident Daniel Bobis. “It’s hard for me to wrap my head around it. I knew Danny, I surfed with Danny. I’ve known him for a long time. He did so many positive things in the community.”
It has been a week since Bobis — a beloved teacher at Long Beach High School and a venerated local surfer — was found. He had been reported missing on July 24 off the coast of southern Sumatra. Skudin is among the many relatives and friends who are reeling from the loss of Bobis, who was known as a community leader, an environmental activist, a member of a popular hardcore band, Cipher, and a charismatic teacher.
“This is a tremendous loss to our association, to our community, to our school district, to our world,” his close friend Billy Kupferman wrote on the website of the Long Beach Surfer’s Association, of which Bobis was a founding member. “I have lost a friend.”
Bobis, 32, was surfing near the tiny enclave of Damai with his wife, Rachel, and a friend, Brian Lonergan. The trio had been traveling and surfing in exotic locations since June. According to Rachel’s Facebook posting, the leash on her husband’s board broke as he surfed in an area known for its 12-foot waves.
After urgent calls to local authorities and U.S. officials by his wife, family and friends that led to an extensive, days-long search involving helicopters, local fisherman and fellow surfers, several friends confirmed on Facebook last Thursday that Bobis’s body had been found by fishermen.
“He is gone and now we must mourn,” posted Jamie Imerese, his brother-in-law. “In this terrible time of tragedy, we must keep our energy on what Danny stood for and how we can be there for his family.”
“No further details have been provided, nor are necessary at this time,” posted Sean Pearsall, a close friend of the Bobis family, asking that others respect the family’s privacy. “… We are all deeply saddened by the loss of this amazing husband, teacher, surfer and friend to so many.”
