Obituary of Anthony Joseph Mikus

ANTHONY JOSEPH (TONY JOE) MIKUS 08/02/1947 – 09/21/2014 It is with great sadness and gratitude that we announce the peaceful passing of Tony Joe Mikus in his Santa Cruz home after a brief struggle with cancer. He was born in San Francisco, grew up in Santa Cruz and lived the rest of his life in the Pleasure Point area. Tony was a legendary Santa Cruz surfer, an original member of the Pleasure Point Surfing Association and the Pleasure Point Night Fighters. A master surfboard glasser he worked for all the top companies in Santa Cruz and was instrumental in the growth of the local surf community having been our local surfboard fiber glassing legend for 47 years. He also had his own business "Mikus Fiberglass" in Live Oak catering to all the great underground surfboard shapers of the last forty years. He was known for his warmth, fantastic sense of humor and love of community. Over the decades he mentored kids and adults alike in the Pleasure Point area as well as other parts of town. He went to Branciforte Elementary and graduated from Santa Cruz High School in 1965. He was preceded in death by his parents Mavis and Clarence Mikus and sister Marita. He is survived by his loving wife Clare, sister Sherry Perry of Scotts Valley (Chuck), ex-wife Julie and his children Lenee Lowery of Santa Cruz, Shane Barry adventurer, Vanessa Horn of Scotts Valley (Jeremiah), Sarah Izaguirre of Kailua, Hawaii (Jason) and Tony Joe Mikus Jr. of Capitola. Tony also has seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Tony was a creative artist in everything he touched, be it fiberglass on a surfboard or the soft leather he fashioned into custom purses. He also was a great sports fan and followed the San Francisco Giants and the Forty Niner's throughout the years; he was no fair weather fan, a true faithful. Tony will be greatly missed, always loved and never forgotten... A Celebration of Life for Tony will be scheduled at a later date.