PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — This story was reported by our news partners at the Florida Times-Union.
Joe Roland, a Beaches surfing legend who at 17 became the East Coast Surfing Association's first men's champion and then traveled to compete in two world championships, died Thursday after he was found washed up on the shore with his surfboard still attached to his ankle.
Ponte Vedra beachgoers found him and began CPR, as did rescue personnel when they arrived, but he did not survive, according to a St. Johns County Sheriff's Office spokesman, who said the surfer was 73 years old.
Another spokesman with St. Johns County Fire Rescue said as far as officials there know, he was alone and was found in the surf zone behind the 400 block of Ponte Vedra Boulevard. The department received the call about 8 a.m.
It's unclear what happened.
Mitch Kaufmann, a Beaches surfer who has chronicled the local surfing scene for decades, said Thursday afternoon that he had spoken with Roland's family, which confirmed that he had died.
He said Roland lived in Ponte Vedra and surfed that same spot anytime there were waves, surfing "like a teenager," on a board shorter than himself, even into his 70s.
“He was the happiest, nicest, mellowest guy," Kaufmann said. "He’s a Christian, and this is what everybody says about Joseph — he walked the walk. When it came to being a Christian, he was the real deal.”
Roland was retired from the city of Jacksonville, where he had been a computer programmer. He grew up in Atlantic Beach, where he began surfing at age 13, joined by his younger brothers Vincent, Brad and Paul. His father, Mat Roland, founded a seafood company in Mayport bearing his name.
He was elected to the East Coast Surf Legends Hall of Fame in 1998 and later was worthy of an entry in Matt Warshaw’s 700-plus-page “Encyclopedia of Surfing,” placed between "rogue wave" and "roller coaster."
The entry noted the achievements of “the slender and easygoing Roland": that upset win at the 1968 East Coast championship over much better-known competitors; a repeat East Coast win the next year; and trips to compete in World Surfing Championships in 1968 (in Puerto Rico) and 1970 (in Australia).
Kaufmann said Roland was a modest man who rarely competed past the 1970s but would surf in an occasional EPIC Surf Ministries contest as he got older, still beating much younger competitors.
Mike Fogg, a longtime friend of Roland, his wife Jennifer and son Nathan, said Roland was brilliant in many ways. He enjoyed philosophical discussions, could play numerous musical instruments and had a recording studio in his house. For many years he played in worship bands during church services.
“Joseph’s routine in retirement was, every day, he told me that after he swam or surfed he tried to eat a healthy lunch and then he’d walk on the beach for an hour every day and pray," Fogg said.
He remembers Roland coming home from winning an East Coast championship, bearing with him a large mahogany trophy about 3 feet long. He quickly removed the surfer figure on top of it and fixed it up to work as a skateboard that he could ride. “That’s how much he cared about recognition,” Fogg said.
Roland's friend Mickey Ross said they tried to surf together every Tuesday. “We maintained doing that, and Joe still surfed as well as he did as a teenager, and still rode a shortboard. He could probably out-paddle someone half his age," he said.
They met as usual this past Tuesday, but the ocean was far too jumbled up to surf, so they stayed on the beach and talked and prayed. Conditions improved by Thursday, which is when Roland paddled out.
Ross, a pastor at Mill Cove Church, which Roland had been attending the past couple of months, said his friend's faith was his top priority.
“Faith, family, then surfing,” he said. “Joe's focus was, he never met anybody he didn’t show love to, he never had a bad word for anybody. He would show his love for them through his action. His words. Everything.”
Kaufmann said the local surfing community is already planning a traditional paddle-out ceremony for Roland to mark his death. "We'll have a paddle-out when the family is ready," he said.