Mementos

by Bob Sellers August 31, 2004

Al Schuck

On March 4, 1957, Al was one of a handful of ten (10) individuals listed as the original charter members of The Los Angeles Fathomiers skindiving club. It was Al, together with Ed Gulley, who originally came up with the idea of forming their own diving club. There’s a story about how the name Fathomiers was decided (a story for Ed Gulley to tell). As a draftsman by trade and somewhat of an artist Al designed and made up the first club patch which we still use today. He served as the very first club President and was presiding again for the second time in 1964, in his very last year. Al was always directly involved in trying to make the club better.
Al was an all around athlete involved in most all sports and possessed the natural physical and mental requirements to do almost anything. He was totally a natural in the water, capable of diving in any conditions; he seemed to dive deeper and stay down longer than anyone else. He could have been one of the top competitors of the time, if only he had the desire. Among his many other experiences Al served as an L. A. County Certified Skin and Scuba Diving Instructor for several years.

More than anyone else, Al Schuck and Ed Gulley are the true founding Fathers of the Fathomiers. For these reasons, we honor the name of Al Schuck. In our regular monthly intra club dives, we pay homage to him by accumulating the Al Schuck Memorial Trophy points and awarding the trophies at the end of the year. His name should rightly be remembered right along with the name of Los Angeles Fathomiers.

On September 25, 1964, late in the evening, around 9 -10 PM, while returning home from visiting his friend Ed Gulley who lived nearby, he was killed in a collision between an automobile and the bicycle he was riding.

That was the first tragic loss of life for the club membership.

Larry Staat

Larry became a member in April 1967. He had been diving with members of the club for over several months and had quickly developed a repetition as an aspiring young athletic type, natural born spearfishing enthusiast, and was an incredibly nice young man. Those of us who knew him and spent time with him in the water could see he showed real promise of possibly becoming one of the top free divers of the time. Larry had an amazing ability to hold his breath and dive at incredible depths and stay longer than anyone else. He was “at home” in the ocean; every time out there was an adventure. His young wife shared his enthusiasm. On occasions, she would sit patiently on the rocks for hours on hours alone waiting for him to return (sometimes even after dark). Larry strived to better himself in competitive spearfishing techniques and was gung ho in everything in which he participated. He was physically and mentally qualified for what it takes to become the best, and was always pushing himself to do better. He was everyone’s favorite young friend.

On November 5, 1967 while participating in a pole spear contest in Shell Beach, California, he was found floating on the surface unconscious, never to be revived. His team member then was George Boss, later to become one of our Life Members. It was determined the cause was SWB. Suffice to say it was a terrible shock to all of us.

To honor the memory of Larry the membership decided to create the annual “Larry Staat Memorial Pole Spear Meet”. It is a handicapped meet, aimed primarily for the benefit of the new aspiring young divers, as was Larry.

This was the first tragic loss of life for the club membership directly related to diving activities.

Steve Redding

Steve became a member in April 1990. Before then he had been working at Body Glove in Redondo Beach for some time and had already been exposed to the spearfishing scene, as some of the members would bring in their big WSB there for weighing and bragging rights. He couldn’t take it any longer, so right-a-way he acquired one of Bob S’s custom made guns and immediately began to make good use of it. By the end of that first season, that gun had more than paid for itself with lord knows how many big WSB and YT. He was good. Along with being one of the most congenial, fun loving and popular people you’ll ever know, Steve had incredible talents in almost anything he endeavored. Not only was he widely known as an accomplished spearfisherman and surfer he was equally recognized as an artist. His artwork was renowned especially around the south bay area. To know Steve was to like him, he had many fans, not the least was his family. With his mother and dad, he must have shared all his big fish stories with them. We, especially the few of us within the area, shared some incredible WSB and YT seasons together. There were times with almost daily reports of someone getting something big. If at any time, we wanted to hear the latest big fish story of the day from Steve and he wasn’t available at the time his mother, Muriel could and would recite all the nitty gritty details, either of them could give an academy award performance of the day. It was all a lot of fun!

Among all his other activities, he was rapidly becoming very proficient in underwater photography and during his last few years, he produced some real quality films. We feel blessed to have had him share some of his work with us.

June 14, 1998 was a very sad day for the spearfishing community. The club had lost another great person. Steve was the victim of a SWB while retrieving a big yellowtail tied up in very deep water off San Clemente Island.

What better way is there to remember Steve than to create a new perpetual award in his name; thus, we have the “Steve Redding Memorial Trophy”. See specifics elsewhere.

This was our second tragic loss of life directly related to diving activities.

Steve Seo

Steve became a Fathomier in March 2003. He was an amiable young man with high expectations of contributing to the club and enjoying all the real benefits associated with his newly found diving brothers. He was very enthusiastic in learning all he could about how to improve himself in the techniques of underwater hunting and diving, and was well on his way of fulfilling his wishes. Unfortunately, disaster struck on New Year’s Day January 1, 2004, and Steve was lost while attempting to retrieve a large grouper holed up in deep water off the gulf side of Baja California, near Santa Rosalia. His body has not been recovered; however, it is believed that he was a victim of a SWB.

This is our third tragic loss of life directly related to diving activities.

Ed Gulley

September 26, 2004

The only surviving charter member of the L. A. Fathomiers Skindiving Club passed away on September 24, 2004. For some it’s the end of an era, to others who were privileged to know him over the years it’s a personal loss of a true friend. Not only was Ed (Hotche to his closest friends) one of the original charter members, for more than anyone else, he along with Al Schuck were the real architects of the Los Angeles Fathomiers. Ed will be remembered for many good things, not the least as the one who actually gave the club it’s name.

In over the forty-seven years existence of the club Ed played a leading role unparalleled by any one else. He was truly dedicated in many ways. In his days, he has given more than anyone else to the club. It was a personal achievement for Ed to see the club grow as it has. No one could be more proud than he was to reflect back on our meager beginnings and to realize just how far we have come.

Throughout the years, Ed has held all the official and perhaps unofficial duties relating to the club. He has been club President for at least six (6) times (years-probably more), Secretary for numerous times and has handled all the other duties as well. He was always a ready and reliable source of advice and information on important matters pertaining to the functioning of the club. His opinions were usually sought out on most controversial or unusual matters. He was always a positive influence within the club membership, and his reputation was impeccable.
Ed Gulley has left his mark in the world. To his family and to his many friends he will live forever in our hearts. To the diving community and especially the L. A. Fathomiers he will be revered as a true legend in the sport. There just seemed to be a more common bond between divers during his time holding for a greater respect for each other.

There are so many great memories going all the way back to “the good old days” to the not so far back. One of the most important things to remember is without this very special person our favorite club, the Fathomiers, would never have been born.

There will always be a special place in the history of the Fathomiers for the name of Ed (Hotche) Gulley.