Californian dies in Kaua'i surf
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A grandfather saw his two grandkids, an 11-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl, in trouble Monday in the surf off Anahola and leaped into the rough water to help.
The children made it to shore.
In addition to his distinct political leanings, Victor Schaub was a peacemaker with deep roots in his community.
But their grandfather did not.
Victor Schaub, 61, the former mayor of Arcata, Calif., had spent two years in the Islands in the early 1970s, some of it living in a communal environment on North Kaua'i called Taylor Camp—just 15 miles down the coast from where he would die 30 years later.
Schaub was active as a leader in a small community then referred to as "hippies," in its battles with the government over charges like vagrancy and theft of fruit. Schaub moved back to his home state of California in 1974 and took up the practice of law.
In recent years, Schaub has been a lawyer, mediator, Democratic Party activist and Unitarian minister.
He was a beloved fixture in Arcata, said his friend Kevin L. Hoover, editor of the local newspaper, the Arcata Eye.
"Victor was an unabashed liberal," Hoover said. "He coined the term for our more belligerent conservatives —curmudgeons. The Wall Street Journal picked it up, and pretty soon there were bumper stickers, 'Proud to be a curmudgeon.' "
Schaub was mayor, a planning commission member and a council member, and also served on local and state Democratic Party central committees.
While he had distinct political leanings, Schaub was also a peacemaker with deep roots in his community. His law office doubled as a mediation service and he served as a magistrate for local Indian tribes, once taught history and political science, and was an active Rotarian, a former president of the Arcata Rotary.
"He was everything you wanted as a leader and community member. He had institutional knowledge, experience and common sense, and he transcended politics in so many ways," Hoover said.
On his answering machine, his voice is upbeat, announcing his vacation. He was to return to work April 26.
Schaub and his wife and grandchildren were at the beach at the north end of Anahola Bay shortly after noon on Monday.
"It was pretty rough," said Josh Copeland, 28, of Kapa'a, who was working on a house in the area when a woman on a motorcycle came to the property and asked his crew to call 911. She said a man was drowning.
The children were struggling in the water about 40 yards from shore when Schaub went in to try to help them, according to the county public information office. It appeared Schaub was caught by the current as the children made their own ways to shore.
Copeland said he arrived on the beach to find the children ashore with their grandmother, Sondra Schaub, looking for the missing man. Copeland said he estimated the current's flow and speed, and found Schaub's motionless body.
"Four of us helped him out of the water," he said. One of the four, Joey Montano, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until firefighters and emergency medical crews arrived, but Schaub did not respond.
An autopsy is planned.
On April 1, Terry and Debora Hantack, 50 and 51, of Edwardsville, Ill., lost their lives when they were washed off a rocky shelf into a rough sea at Lumaha'i Beach on the island's North Shore. The Hantacks' 11-year-old son, Daniel, was spared when he managed to stay on the rocks when he was knocked down by the wave that hit his parents.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
