Tony Soriano was riding waves at his favorite surf spot, Ray Bay in Seal Beach, when he noticed a plastic bag floating nearby on the ocean’s surface.

He tucked it into his wetsuit and later stopped by a Surfrider Foundation beach cleanup tent on the way back to his car. He asked to learn more about the ocean conservation group.

That moment led to Soriano dedicating nearly two decades to environmental advocacy, a passion fueled by a love for the ocean and waves.

Soriano, who died April 6 from cancer at age 74, will be remembered Saturday, May 28, during a paddle-out memorial at the mouth of the San Gabriel River, the same place that inspired his work with the nonprofit, for which he rose up to become a leader for its Huntington Beach/Seal Beach chapter.

“During those 22 years, he was at the forefront of fighting every environmental project that came up in Orange County, Huntington Beach and Seal Beach,” said KC Fockler, the chapter’s co-chair. “He had been at the environmental forefront on issues for many, many years.”

One of the marquee events Soriano founded was Ohana Day in Seal Beach, which always landed around Earth Day – a way to get the community together to learn about ocean pollution and health. Moving ahead, that event he started 15 years ago will be renamed the “Tony Soriano Ohana Day.”

“We will continue that in his honor,” Fockler said.

Tony Soriano, who served as chair for the Surfrider Foundation Huntington Beach/Seal Beach chapter for two decades, will be remembered during a paddle-out memorial on May 28, 2022 in Seal Beach. (Photos courtesy of Surfrider)

During his time as chairman for the Surfrider chapter, Soriano helped fight for the decommissioning of oil rigs off the coast and Poseidon Water’s proposed desalination plant, which was recently rejected by the California Coastal Commission.

He also sat on the city of Huntington Beach’s environmental board for more than a decade.

And ever since that day Soriano found that plastic bag during his surf session, he could be found at nearly every single beach cleanup the chapter held from the Santa Ana River to the San Gabriel River – both waterways flush inland trash straight into the ocean.

“It was important for him, for the next generation,” Fockler said, calculating Soriano likely attended about 1,000 cleanups through the years.

Joe Samoa McMullin, of Long Beach, remembers meeting Soriano out at the surf spot that borders Seal Beach and Long Beach about 20 years ago.

After getting to know each other, Soriano encouraged McMullin, newly retired and looking for ways to volunteer his time, join a few Surfrider meetings.

“I went to one of his events and was totally hooked on it … he eventually became a big part of my life and a big brother to me,” McMullin said. “I spent a lot of time with him, he had a great heart.”

Soriano had leadership skills and a way of connecting people, qualities that helped him grow the Surfrider chapter. In recent years, he took a staff position with Surfrider Foundation as chapter coordinator.

“He gave me his insight of how he loved the ocean, Surfrider,” said McMullin, who served as education chair for seven years. “He has the ability to get people to work together and find stars. He’s really good at binding these stars together.”

Surfrider CEO Chad Nelsen said Soriano was the embodiment of the group’s mission.

Tony Soriano, chairman of Surfrider Foundation for two decades, shows a yellow-bellied sea snake found wash ashore dead in 2015 at one of the non-profit’s clean ups at Bolsa Chica State Beach. (File photo by ED CRISOSTOMO/SCNG)

“A Huntington Beach local who cared passionately about his ocean, waves and beaches, welcomed all, and took action every day to conserve them – from organizing beach cleanups to leading efforts to reduce plastic pollution, and everything in between,” Nelsen said. “Tony’s legacy lives on through the protection and enjoyment of Huntington Beach’s beautiful coastline.”

Soriano, along with fellow Surfrider member Don MacLean, started the “Hold Onto Your Butts” program that put cigarette canisters along Huntington Beach’s Main Street, a program that helps dispose of tens of thousands of butts each month that would otherwise end up on the street and eventually in the ocean.

But it maybe have been the rise in plastic pollution that concerned him the most. Some days, he would ride his bike 30 miles up the Santa Ana River looking up and down the channel for any signs of toxic dumping or other debris in danger of washing into the ocean.

“He was so concerned about it, he would do his own personal research,” Fockler said.

Fockler added he has one wish for people as they remember Soriano and his contributions to the water world: Be a bit more like him.

“Love the environment,” Fockler said. “Love the ocean.”

Saturday’s paddle-out ceremony will happen from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Seal Beach jetty at First Street.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to the American Cancer Society or the Huntington Beach/Seal Beach Surfrider Foundation chapter.

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