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LAST WORD Bill Hickey, who we lost in February, was a California surf legend whose name appears throughout the Tales from Kelly’s Cove oral history program WNP spearheaded in 2012. He’s as Sunset as they come, with a father who worked for developer Henry Doelger and a family that moved to the neighborhood in 1941. He started bodysurfing at Kelly’s Cove in the 1950s with a buddy who lived nearby. Later, he became Jack O’Neill’s first employee at his first surf shop on Wawona Street in 1957. Courageous, immensely talented, and, above all else, incredibly humble, he was an integral participant at every Kelly’s Cove reunion, which won’t be the same without him. If you knew or were inspired by Bill, please share your stories with us. Those memories are more important than ever. Below: Kelly’s Cove, 1960s. (Photo by Dennis O’Rorke; courtesy of Dennis O’Rorke)
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Bill Hickey and daughter Amber on the Great Highway. (Photo by Dennis O’Rorke; courtesy of Dennis O’Rorke)
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