Gene

[Sheri]

Gene Higa was a skilled hunter, a humble man, an engineer, and a mentor to others. He is survived by his wife, Cheryl, and his little boy who were waiting on the beach for him as we all returned from the hunt that day.

As requested by his family, we went out very early the next morning to recover some of his things that were left in the ocean. There were gray clouds and drizzle that morning, the first time I had seen that in Hawaii since I'd been there. The mood was quiet, of course, and I was thinking, "life sucks, everything seems to deteriorate eventually, every life ends in death.....ugh, what's the point of this whole thing?"

As we motored out the harbor, the gray cloud cover that was over land abruptly turned into sunshine over flat-blue-seas....kind of weird. The brightest rainbow I have ever seen stretched across the ocean in front of us, and a big pod of dolphins started heading towards us. A baby dolphin was spinning and jumping high into the air as they passed by. I'm not a religious person, but I could feel the presence of Gene's spirit in the air that morning. I felt he was at peace and telling us to get out of our somber mood and get on with life, enjoy the ride while it lasts....

Gene, your fellow spearfishers from Florida wish you well in your next journey, where ever that takes you. It was an honor to dive with you.

[Sheri]

heading out...

[Sheri]

going in...

[Rolo]

Speaking last night with Tony Miranda, he was still distraght regarding Gene's death. He said that after his accident in the Nationals in Islamorada in 1999, in which a competitor's boat propeler disfigured his foot, Gene and his team, immediately after winning the event, drove directly to the hospital and began praying outside his room. This was the type of man Gene Higa was. Also, perhaps the best spearo in the world with a three-prong. Most cannot comprehend the loss of such a gentleman of our sport.

[El Duke]

Coincidently I photograph Tournament area on my way to Airport. I had same filing that Sheri had.

R.I.P. Gene Higa. We will remember you.

Sasa Bratic

[Sheri]

There is a memorial T shirt for Gene with 100% of the profits going to his family if anyone is interested.

http://www.e808.com/product.asp?productID=2893&categoryID=51&tCategoryID=51&t=7743287

I've been re-reading some of my old Hawaii Skin Diver magazines where there are pictures of Gene and some articles and advice that he wrote. It wasn't until this Nationals that I realize just how good the Hawaiians are (they are always winning....even when not in their own back yard). Not only that, they are very genuine and humble guys. I wish that you all could all meet them and experience the spirit of aloha. For example, Jose Santeiro told me today that when they were over here competing in Florida in 1999, the Hawaii team (Gene and Wayde and Wendell) invited the Miami team over and cooked dinner for them, even though they were rivals for that tournament. The Hawaii team ended up winning, even though they stopped early to help Tony out when he got hurt.

Gene was one of the most loved and respected among them, and his loss hits them all especially hard. As you can tell, they would be the type to help us out if we lost one of our own.

The message on the T shirt is: "The brotherhood of spearfishers will always remember."

[Spearooo]

Aloha Gene, My prayers are with you and your family.....

[Peter R.]

I just bought one. I'll proudly wear it. I hope this small act can contribute to making this tough time for Gene's family just a little bit easier.

Aloha Gene. :cool:

[Steel Shootin']

I know that the Spearboard Community shares the saddness I feel whenever hearing about a loss. When someone can put a face to the person, and we learn how well liked and respected they were, and their circumstances (e.g., children, surviving spouses), it is all the more tragic. Thanking about his child on shore waiting for him makes my heart go out to that boy.

Thanks for the information on the shirts, Sheri. I will place the link in the Spearboard Announcements area in hopes of getting the attention of the board so that more are sold.

Scott

[Spearo_Fla]

Gene was a friend, like all the Hawaiians he was very humble. He will be missed! I ordered my tee today!

[kitefisherman]

I had a problem ordering a shirt using Netscape Navigator. Switching to Internet Explorer solved the problem.

[TGuthrie]

It sucks to hear about something like this. My sympathies to his family and to those of you who knew him. I orderd my tee.

Tom Guthrie

[Screen Name]

Originally posted by TGuthrie
It sucks to hear about something like this. My sympathies to his family and to those of you who knew him. I orderd my tee.

Tom Guthrie

Roger that.

[El Duke]

Photos of Gene from Nationals.
Taken by Joe Kalohi

[El Duke]

Photo of Gene from Nationals.
Taken by Joe Kalohi

[spear_friend]

my prayers to you and your family gene i just order 2