Ty Page - Family Life

Family Life

Ty Page grew up in Hermosa Beach, California, a frisbee throw away from the breakwater. Ty’s sister, Kim, described the family’s “endless summer” life: “My dad was a huge surfer so we grew up on boards. Sometimes when the surf was good he’d say, ‘Don't go to school today. I'll write you a note and we'll go surfing.’ I really believed there was no life east of the Pacific Coast Highway.” Every summer the family lived in a camper at San Onofre Surf Club, just south of San Clemente. Life was very active and outdoors, and Ty had natural athletic ability. His mother, Donna, has said that Ty could walk two city blocks on his hands at 4 years old.

Ty began surfing at age 12 and won the national title in 1962. He was only 15 years old when he won second place at the U.S. Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach. Ty, along with fellow Makaha skateboarder Rusty Henderson, were also members of the Wave Trek Surf Team during the early 1970s. Ty and his brother, Greg, both were active in aquatics at Redondo Union High School and both worked as lifeguards at the San Clemente beach. When the Redondo breakwater was good, some say it was one of the best surfing locations in the South Bay. Ty and Greg were both avid surfers and displayed true talent when the breakwater was over eight feet.