Pro surfer dies in
car crash on Maui

Friends recall Stephen Cooney
as having a big heart

Stephen Cooney: Died yesterday after his truck struck an embankment

HOOKIPA, Maui » Professional surfer Stephen Cooney was known in surfing magazines for his amazing aerial maneuvers. His friends knew him also as a person with a "big heart" and a good disposition.

Cooney, 30, died after the pickup he was driving went out of control, struck an embankment and rolled over along Kaupakalua Road at about 1:24 a.m. yesterday.

Cooney, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially thrown from the vehicle and pinned under it.

Police are investigating whether speed, alcohol or drugs may have contributed to the crash.

Professional surfer Tom Dosland, who grew up as a teenager surfing at Hookipa, said Cooney was a good role model for younger surfers, including himself.

"He's one of my really good friends," said Dosland, the 2004 winner in the Hansen's Energy Pro at Banzai Pipeline on Oahu's North Shore. "I used to look up to him a lot. He's always positive."

Friends recalled Cooney won a number of professional surfing competitions, including the Quiksilver Air Show in Costa Rica in 2000.

On Maui, with cars and trucks parked two deep in some places along the driveway at Hookipa Beach Park, more than 100 friends gathered in the afternoon to mourn Cooney's death and console each other.

Jan Roberson, the head of the Maui Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, said Cooney was an "all-around good guy" who worked as a volunteer with the group and helped in beach cleanups and native planting projects.

Kekoa Amadeo, a friend, said Cooney would bring T-shirts and sunglasses from sponsors to the beach and hand them out to surfers for free. "He had the biggest heart," Amadeo said.

Chris Simpson said the surfers at Hookipa respected Cooney's talent and ability to ride all kinds of waves, including 15- to 20-foot waves at Jaws.

But Simpson said Cooney wasn't the type to muscle his way into waves. "He'd just go with the rhythm of the ocean," Simpson said.

Cooney, an only child, is survived by his mother Betsy and father Howard.

A memorial service is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 13 at Hookipa Beach Park.