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Jim “Mouse” Robb, a legendary San Diego surfer who started riding waves in the 1940s on 70-pound longboards made out of redwood, and who became a father figure to dozens of local lifeguards and assorted water rats, died April 22, one day shy of his 88th birthday.
His impact, especially in Ocean Beach, inspired a bumper sticker, “Mouse Would Go,” which nods to his eagerness to surf even the biggest waves, and to his willingness to help people as a mentor, electrician, and do-whatever-it-takes volunteer.
“We all tried to be like him,” said Lee Edging, a building inspection supervisor and former president of the Sunset Cliffs Surfing Association, a club Robb helped start that emphasized community service almost as much as wave-chasing and became a template for similar organizations in Southern California.