Jack O'Neill Dies at 94

Published:June 3, 2017
Views:4,608

"I was thinking of staying warm in San Francisco and Santa Cruz," O'Neill said. "I thought I was gonna have a little shop there, make boards and, later, wetsuits. But nobody is more surprised than I am at how it's grown."
Jack in Santa Cruz in the early '70s. "I think we've been very good to each other. We have helped Santa Cruz; Santa Cruz has helped us."
Pre eye-patch Jack, with his board strapped to his car.
Jack created the "Surf Shop," to sell his wetsuits and surfboards. He first opened one in San Francisco, then later moved south to this building in Santa Cruz.
The O'Neill production facility circa '74 with Pat O'Neill in the foreground wearing the revolutionary "Animal Skin" wetsuit. "We had quite a crew here," explained Jack in 2012. "Santa Cruz at that time was pretty laid back. It was a casual operation."
One of the early versions, the "Supersuit." If it wasn't for Jack's trial and errors, the surfing landscape would've never been the same.

If it wasn’t for Jack O’Neill, quite literally freezing his ass off while bodysurfing Ocean Beach in the 1950s, the modern surf scene would be in a world of pain. To personally endure the cold, O’Neill ventured to create the first wetsuit, and thus, changed ocean-goers' lives forever.

And today, Jack O’Neill died; he was 94 years old.

Born in Denver, Colorado in 1923, then raised in Portland, Oregon, O’Neill spent his life in the colder echelons of the Pacific mid-to-northwest. His family moved to California, and eventually, O’Neill settled in San Francisco. That’s where the primordial inklings for the wetsuit began to boil – when he frequently snuck away from work to dive into the freezing sea.

“I was good for about an hour,” O’Neill recalled in an interview with Surfline from 2012. “And I thought that was kind of the limit. Now this is going back to the days of bodysurfing. Back then, we would build big fires on the beach to try to get warm after we surfed.”

Soon, O’Neill sought a new way to maintain warmth, and he starting by stuffing flexible PVC into his bathing suit. He then made a vest with the material, which, “worked pretty well, but it was like a straight jacket.” And then finally, O’Neill’s creative drive and need for warmth paired with the right sort of scientific mind.

“A friend of mine, Harry [Hine],” said O’Neill, “told me he was working with neoprene as an insulator in his lab. So I got some of that neoprene and that worked really well. Except the first neoprene would tear quite a bit. Half the guys would come back and want their money back. Then we put nylon on it. And then we started sewing it and that worked out pretty well.”

By 1952, O’Neill had opened one of California’s first surf shops, aptly named “Surf Shop.” In fact, he owned the licensing for the name throughout his life; had he wanted to, he could’ve gone after every other store that called itself a surf shop. The shop was about 100 yards from his favorite bodysurfing spot and it was where he began selling the crude neoprene vests. And in 1959, he opened his second shop 90 miles south in Santa Cruz, right on the beach at Cowell’s and right in time for the 1960s surfing boom.

“For ten years we didn't have any competition to speak of,” O’Neill said. But as surfing’s popularity grew, so did the surf industry. And with it came advancements like the surf leash, which, in its rudimentary stages, was responsible for O’Neill’s lost left eye while surfing The Hook in Santa Cruz. But that bearded pirate image of its leader helped spread O’Neill’s appeal, not only as a wetsuit brand but a clothing empire.

By 2010, the company that began from one man’s desire to stay warm, had become the best-selling wetsuit brand in the world. And it was bolstered by decades of iconic surfers on the O’Neill team – from Shaun Tomson to Brad Gerlach, to Shane Beschen to Cory Lopez and Jordy Smith. Almost single-handedly, Jack O’Neill impacted the ocean lives of countless people. And after the commercial domination of his brand, O’Neill continued to give back through charities he helped create to support children interested in ocean sciences – sorta like him in 1950s San Francisco, only with the inherent luxury of staying warm in frigid waters.

“As I see it, we've gotten a lot from the ocean, in more ways than one,” said O'Neill. “I mean, the ocean has been very comforting to me through the years. When you get all screwed up, and you jump in the ocean, everything's alright again.”

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supertaco 06/07/2017 05:02 PM * PREMIUM MEMBER - Nickname

Darn leash!

Stephen Beck 06/07/2017 03:44 PM * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

My first surf was at Pleasure Point in 1976. I rented an Animal Skin wetsuit from Jack on 41st. I put the suite on backwards, but batch in front and zipper across my chest. The local boys got a good laugh as I made my way down the bluff. 40 years later I still have an O'Neill wetsuit, surfing five days a week and am still laughing.

dan ferro 06/07/2017 02:41 AM * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

thanks Jack!

sam 06/06/2017 08:46 PM

What a great man! His vision and passion for waves helped everyone you know enjoy longer sessions, better surfing while keeping warm. O'neill wetsuits were all things to all surfers. My Heat full suit, then Pysco got me through many cold, cold sessions with only my endurance as limit. The smell of neoprene and surfboard wax still builds stoke before your go-out. Thanks Jack for what you did for us. RIP sir.

rbier 06/06/2017 07:46 PM

A true icon of our beloved sport, RIP. His legacy will be all over the world.

Kevin Jones 06/06/2017 05:56 PM

I got my first wetsuit at 8 years old. It was a long sleeved, short leg O'Neill with a front zipper my older brother bought from Harbour Surfboards in Seal Beach. I loved that suit and it served me very well. RIP Jack!

anonymous 06/06/2017 03:02 PM

I didn't know. Even if advice would not have made any difference, I wish I could have tried to help him with scientific opinion.

David Cuff 06/06/2017 08:35 AM

Respect, thanks, and honor.

Nigel Butler 06/06/2017 03:37 AM

Thank you for your greatness

Alan Reynolds 06/05/2017 10:43 PM * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

I remember surfing Rincon back in 1973-74 wearing a black and purple "Farmer John" with a black "Beaver Tail" O'Neil wetsuits sure kept me warm that awesome winter!

Matt Christensen 06/05/2017 08:16 PM

Thank You! RIP!

Lisa Alexander 06/05/2017 06:29 AM

You are in the arms of the ocean. RIP

Cameron Pylant 06/05/2017 04:00 AM

Jack, May the waves in heaven break perfectly and the water be so warm that you don't need a wetsuit. Thank you for all you did for us while you were here. ????

Anonymous 06/05/2017 01:55 AM

I was one of the lucky kids that got be the first science class out on the Odyssey catamaran 20 something years ago in Santa Cruz. So grateful for the Oneill family generosity!

steve costa 06/05/2017 01:54 AM * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name

I remember back when I was 15 years old. I watched the surfers at Steamer Lane and at Cowell's and I knew at that moment that surfing was something I had to try. I ran over to Jack's tiny surf shop in the corner of the now Dream Inn to rent a surfboard. Jack said you'll probably need a wetsuit too. I didn't know what a wetsuit was, but he was so helpful outfitting me with a 65 pound log and a farmer john wetsuit complete with beaver tail. Thank you Jack.

Jack O'Neill Dies at 94

Remembering the godfather of the modern wetsuit

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