Ewa Beach lost one of her sons. Kahu Cleighton Eaton, one of the “da boyz on da road” passed away in his sleep on Saturday. Cleigh was a member of the Ewa Beach Surf Club, and a very good surfer, and EBSC had some of the best surfers on the island in the '60s.
Like many of our brothers, Cleigh moved to Maui in the '70s and enjoyed the waves at Paukukalo, Olowalo and other spots. He was a big guy and someone you didn’t want to be fighting with, but he was also someone who took care of his friends. His brother told me a story about a time at Paukukalo when a young guy who thought he was hot and kept dropping in on Cleigh. After some words the guy tells Cleigh to meet him on the beach and see how tough he was. He tells Cleigh he was going to call his friend Cleighton Eaton to kick his ass not knowing that he was talking to Cleigh. Well the guy went in and waited, thinking that throwing out Cleigh’s name would scare him. Meanwhile, Cleigh stayed out surfing, having a great time. Cleigh’s cousin comes down to the beach and he knows the young guy. The young guy tells him the story and Cleigh’s cousin tells the guy that he screwed up because that was Cleighton. Cleigh is done surfing and comes in so this guy is freaking out, but then Cleigh’s cousin tells the guy “no worry, he’s my cousin, I’ll talk to him.” Cleigh said he had so much fun making the guy wait 2 hours on the beach knowing that he was full of shit.
Funny, Cleigh’s younger brother Cal and I have been friends since the early '70s. Cal is even bigger than Cleigh, but Cleigh was the one you never wanted to mess with. I told Cal anytime I get in trouble I’m going to throw their names out. We had a good laugh over that.
Rest in peace Cleigh, I’ll see you on the other side. We can finish our conversation about Aloha and how it is going to play a role in the future of the world.
