RIP Steve Holloway- Lightwave Surfboards

Steve Holloway passed away on April 13, 2020. Steve was the owner of the Cocoa Beach landmark Surf shop Lightwave Surfboards.

Text taken from Steve’s obituary

Stephen H. Price was born November 17th, 1953 in Harlingen Texas to William and Martha Price. Bill and Marty also had a daughter Sheila, Steve’s younger sister. After the passing of Steve’s father, Marty married Gene Holloway of Houston, Texas. In 1960, Steve and his sister were legally adopted by Gene, an engineer at NASA. Steve soon welcomed into his life three more sisters: Sonya, Sarah, and Amy Holloway. In 1967, when Steve was 14, his family moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida, where he graduated from Cocoa Beach High School in 1972.

Steve quickly took to beach life and it suited him well. He decked out his VW van and was always seeking the best waves up and down the east coast with his hitchhiking dog Tucker enjoying the ride. As a young man, Steve was a Bohemian and a self-made businessman. Steve discovered his passion for the surfboard industry after landing his first job working for Bill Feinberg at Oceanside Surf Shop in the early 70s. There, Steve met his good friend Bill Eberwein while they repaired surfboards.

This friendship would turn out to be the launch pad for Steve and Bill to partner their skills in 1975 to become one of the top custom surfboard builders and suppliers to Ron Jon’s and other local surf-shops under the name Ron Jon Boards and Lightwave Surfboards. In 1981, after their amazing run building custom boards for local shops, Steve turned his passion for building boards to a focus on his own company, Lightwave Surfboards. Later, Steve opened his own surf-shop – Lightwave Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, Florida. As a local business owner who believed strongly in the value of community, Steve was a generous supporter and sponsor of the Lightwave / RonJon’s ’81 and ’82 surf team. Throughout his career, Steve was a well-known contributor to the Florida surfboard industry.

Outside of his work life, Steve was an avid fan of drag racing. He had a passion for fast, sexy cars, which showed in his many lovingly refurbished vintage Porsches. His prize car was a sweet Porsche 911 Carrera convertible.

Steve is survived by his father, Gene Holloway; sisters Sheila Decker, Sonya Holloway, Sarah Holloway, Amy Holloway; and Nieces and Nephews Chris Tarquinio, Tiffany Decker, Travis Decker, Nick Ingersoll, and Lucas Farrar.

Steve was preceded in death by his biological father, William Thomas Price, his Mother, Martha Price Holloway, and his nephew Michael Bigelow.

Donations in remembrance of Steve and all the other legendary surfboard builders that made the Florida surfing scene what it is today can be made to Florida Surf Museum at www.floridasurfmuseum.org

See Steve’s obituary with more photos and stories here:  Steve Holloway obituary

Bill Eberwein:

 I met Steve at Oceanside Surf Shop which was at the south end of Cocoa Beach in the late 60’s. Steve was 16 and I was 17. Steve started off doing ding repair at Oceanside. We soon became good friends. We would surf together and ate a lot at Tippy’s Taco House, now Taco City.
Within a few years we started making surfboards in one of my Dad’s old chicken yard coop’s. The chickens liked to peck at the blanks and this was a problem. Then we graduated on to rent a small warehouse in Cape Canaveral where we were able to step up our production. The “factory” had a more “pristine” atmosphere and the boards looked much better. The rent was $65 a month. Steve enjoyed glassing the boards and we took turns sanding and polishing. Steve wanted to do the best job possible on all steps involved in making a nice board. As the boards got better, we started selling more and more. Steve made surfboards most of his life and really enjoyed it. He also enjoyed buying and selling Porsche’s. He had 5 or 6 different 356’s and his last Porsche was a nice 911 Targa. He was knowledgeable and learned a lot about Porsche’s. He knew which were the rare models and how many were built. If he kept his collection of Porsche’s that he had over the years, I’m sure they would be worth $750,000 or more. We had a lot of good times together. Who would not want to be in their 20’s or 30’s again? I will miss reminiscing with him about the “the good old days” we shared in our younger days and when the surfing industry was “taking off”, just as the space program was in our area. Fun times!

Bobbi Eberwein:

Steve was a good friend to my brother Bill, and our family. My Mother felt like Steve was another son and part of our family. In our younger days, my brother Bill and Steve would occasionally take my son, Nikki, to the beach with them, hoping Nikki was cute enough as to attract “chicks”. I don’t think this ever worked for them, but a good try! Mom and Bill went out to Hawaii in the late 80’s and visited with Steve when he worked out there for a time. I’m not sure how long Steve lived in Hawaii, but I’m sure he enjoyed working and living out there. Steve had numerous surf shops and surfboard factories over the years and loved that business. He will be missed greatly!