Last Friday, a farewell service was held at Maroubra Beach for the founding member of surf gang Bra Boys, Ricky Taylor, who passed away at age 43 earlier this month.
Over 600 family members and friends came together at a funeral service to pay tribute to the popular surfer who founded the Maroubra surfing brotherhood. Hundred of surfers participated in a paddle-out just off Maroubra Beach after the funeral service ended.
Ricky’s friend John Sutton was among the mourners at the service. The South Sydney Rabbitohs player also wore a black armband alongside his teammates in the preliminary final against the Sydney Roosters on Saturday to pay tribute to Ricky.
Apart from being known for his impressive surf talent, Ricky was also a fisherman, a top tradesman and a skilled bass player.
Ricky’s wife Ashley told Daily Mail that “watching Ricky in the surf and performing in bands onstage” where some of her favourite memories because “he was always so content and at ease in the water and playing music,” and that “he was a very talented surfer, blessed with a natural gift in the water,” but her all time favourite memory of her husband are “all the ones of him being a dad.”
She described Ricky as, “as real as they get – genuine, kind, driven” and that he was a loving father to his two sons Kye, 11, and Brixton, 7.
“He loved them more than anything… and it’s so cliche to say but it was true. He was always planning surf days music concerts and road trips for them. He talked about them non-stop. He was so proud,” she said.
Ashley also emphasised how much of an impact her husband had had on the Maroubra community where he was seen as “an avid surfer and a proud Bra Boy.”
She claimed that his “genuine character and friendship has left an everlasting impact down here,” and that he would always be willing to help out a friend or mentor young surfers, including his own sons.
The Facebook page My Brothers Keeper posted that “Maroubra has been punched in the chest with the loss of our brother Ricky Taylor”.
A GoFundMe has been set up to “help Ashley and her boys with Ricky’s funeral cost,” and that they “will be setting up a trust fund for the boys in honour of their father.”
Ashley also took the moment to bring awareness to mental health, stating that her husband had battled depression for most of his life and the he had “fought to stay here as long as he could but sometimes the black dog wins,” and that “Mental health treatment should not be so hard to find.”
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