Article by Hillard Grossman

Like the store’s famous motto, Ron DiMenna was truly “one of a kind.”
Ron Jon Surf Shop’s company founder passed away Saturday at age 88, leaving behind a legacy of a successful business that began in Ship Bottom, N.J., in 1959, when he began turning his wave-riding capabilities into a surfing vibe that expanded into a worldwide phenomenon, most notably with the pastel-colored, castle-like, two-story structure in Cocoa Beach.
Everything he touched seemed to turn to gold, from selling surfboards out of his garage in New Jersey to the “World’s Largest Surf Shop” that evolved from a small store at the “Shut Up and Fish” plaza at 3rd Street North, to the small shop at what was known as Canaveral Pier, to a single-story structure with the grass-mat floors in a strip mall at the same vicinity as where the behemoth building exists today just west of Alan Shepard Park.
“He had one of the earliest surf businesses on the Space Coast,” said John Hughes, the former 10-year Executive Director and now Historian of the Florida Surf Museum, based just steps away from the main store. “From that little shop on the pier, he built such a thriving business. Ron Jon is as successful as it’s ever been.”
Bob Freeman, who once worked for DiMenna, first patching up trade-in surfboards to actually running the shop at the Canaveral Pier, was a surfer on the original Ron Jon Surf Team in 1967. He regained that sponsorship when Ron Jon celebrated its 50th anniversary.
“The first time I’d ever met Ron, I saw a tall, lanky, suave, California-type guy, A very cool dude,” Freeman recalled.
That was when he had just placed third in the Labor Day surfing contest at the Pier, where he had broken his favorite Hansen surfboard.
“I walked into that shop and I was looking for a good, used one, since they were a big supplier of Hansen boards,” Freeman said. “Ron comes walking out and I told him what had happened, and he said Don Hansen is on the phone. ‘He’s looking for a rider and so am I. Would you like to be sponsored by both of us?’
“I said, yes, of course. Well, I walked out of that store with a brand new, polished 8-6 Hansen board, two Hansen jackets and a whole bunch of Hansen-Ron Jon Team T-shirts … I still have one!”
From stickers to surfboards to souvenirs with the Ron Jon One-of-a-Kind logo attached, tourists by the busloads would arrive at what some called the 8th Wonder of the World and often shop for the brand-name T-shirts they could impress their friends with back home. For years, until the pandemic, the store was open around the clock.
The first Ron Jon store was established on Long Beach Island, N.J. There are 10 physical Ron Jon stores in the U.S. and numerous boutique stores have popped up over the years, such as in the Orlando International Airport.
“He was a shrewd businessman,” Hughes confessed.
And, it wasn’t just the in-store sales where DiMenna’s name was synonymous with success.
The creation of a simple “Endless Summer” specialty license plate by Ron in 2010 became Florida’s top seller, beating out all of the college and pro sports teams. The money from the plates (also sold in Ron Jon stores) supports Surfing’s Evolution & Preservation Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable organization started by he and his wife, Lynne, to help protect the health of Florida’s beaches and address issues, such as coastal pollution and beach ecology. An aquarium was in the making.
In FY 2022 alone, the Foundation reportedly received more than $3 million dollars from the license plate sales.
Ron Jon has been a huge sponsor of hundreds of surfing events, such as the old Easter Surf Festival, the old Cocoa Beach Jaycees Labor Day Surf Festival and the current Beach ‘n Boards Fest. The store also sponsored very successful surfers, such as world champions Lisa Andersen and Caroline Marks, who won the 1984 Olympic title. The Ron Jon name also has been associated with Special Olympics surfers, as well.
“He’s also a very big fan of Surfin’ Santas,” said Hughes of the Christmas Eve event in downtown Cocoa Beach.
When the pandemic struck in March of 2020, the Beach ‘n Boards Fest at Shepard Park was in its second day, but was allowed to complete its three-day event, the last professional outdoor sporting event in the nation at that point.
DiMenna, who lived on an expansive ranch on North Merritt Island, had a dark side as well, unfortunately. According to several reports, he faced several arrests throughout his life, including a widely-reported DUI arrest on Merritt Island in 2010; charges for drug and illegal gun possession in 1987; and serving 18 months in prison for a 1975 drug conviction.
Despite those issues, DiMenna was still highly regarded for his work in helping make Cocoa Beach a tourist destination, and he even was elected to the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame in 1998.
“He was a very good guy,” Freeman said. “I was aware of some of the trouble he got into, but he was very nice, very polite,” said Freeman, who also is an East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame member.  “We did things together socially and we became good friends ever since. Like I said, he was a very good guy. Just groovy.”
The Florida Surf Museum has displayed dozens and dozens of historic photos, surfboards and trophies. Hughes said DiMenna was a big supporter of the past, too, never butting in as to which displays could or couldn’t be shown without any bias.
In a statement, Michele Goodwin, President of Ron Jon Surf Shop, said: “Ron was known as a free spirit, and his love for the beach and the sport of surfing endured throughout his life.   He lived life on his own terms and created a retail empire that remains one of the most successful beach shopping destinations in the country.
“The Ron Jon Surf Shop Corporation will continue to function as it has and nothing will change in the company’s day-to-day operations.  Ron’s vision and legacy will live on for generations through Ron Jon Surf Shop and Surfing’s Evolution & Preservation Foundation.”
Freeman felt sad Sunday upon hearing the news.
“The loss of a good friend and a mentor,” he said. “So many of us back then were kind of (surf) bums. He was one of the straight-shooters, though. A guy that would make something of himself.”