Jack Riley Michael Munday

7/7/2020

Jack Riley Michael Munday was born on January 12, 2004 in La Jolla, California as the first child to Joanna and Trey Munday. He spent the first couple of years of his life in La Jolla. He took his first trip to the tropics at 11 months old when we visited Maui for his first Christmas. It was there that he got his first taste of warm ocean water. It was also there that he decided to take his first steps. He went from a few wobbly steps, to full speed running from there on. There was no half throttle for Jack.

Jack moved to Carlsbad at the age of two when Joanna and I bought our first home in Calavera Hills. Greenwich street was where Jack learned to ride a bike and a skateboard and joined his first sports team at age 4. He immediately found that he enjoyed the comradery of a team, and obviously the highlight of team sports was the post-game snacks. Jack became a big brother on Greenwich street when his first brother, Sam, was born. Jack was a loving brother and embraced the fact that he needed to share our parental energy with his brother. It also gave him a little extra freedom to which he utilized by cruising the streets on his electric Harley Davidson with his neighborhood buddy. He loved spending time at the beach at an early age, and by age 5, he was studying the timing of waves and learned the dynamics of his first boogie board.

Our family moved to Westwood drive when Jack was nearly 6, and the move had one major advantage for Jack; it was 3 miles closer to the beach. Westwood drive was a peaceful street, and Jack took pleasure in making sure that his presence was known. He cruised his skateboard up and down the sidewalks, threw any object remotely shaped like a ball, and then flashed a smile that immediately disarmed a neighbor’s frustration with impressive effect. His charm was on display, but it was more than that. He could connect one soul to another through his beautiful smile. Within two years of moving to Westwood, Jack became a big brother again when Bowen was born. That presented two benefits; another brother to play with, and, a little more freedom for Jack!

Jack started playing various team sports; baseball, soccer, flag football, and basketball. When he was 8, his Carlsbad Wave rec soccer team went to the finals, and he earned a spot on the Wave All Star team that season. Even through that successful season, his love for baseball started to dominate his focus. Jack wasn’t a crusher with his bat, but his quick feet, strong arm, and crisp hand-eye coordination made him a good position player. Most of all, he understood the game, and appreciated the holistic strategy of a successful team. His skills progressively improved as he spent time on a few travel ball teams, but his favorite venue was CYB rec leagues where he earned an All-star placement on the Bronco team at age 12. However, the pinnacle of his time in CYB was winning the rec World Series in his final year in Pony. He and his teammates and coaches had been waiting years for that victory, and it was sweet when it was finally earned.

All the while, surfing was Jack’s real passion. He got his first foam board, affectional known as “big blue” at age 8, and was riding it standing up within weeks. In short order, he was asking for a “shorty” and wanted a board he could shred on. By this point, Jack took every advantage he could to go to the beach. He was relentless in his requests to be taken to the beach, but always in his charming manner. He often started the request out with something like, “hey dad, what do you think the surf is like today?”. He quickly got better through competing on the Valley Middle School surf team, and it wasn’t long before I was trying to teach him how to do things that I couldn’t possibly do myself. As soon as he was able, he had a surf rack equipped to his bike and he was free to hit the beach whenever he pleased, which was pretty much all the time. As a family, we took many vacations to the tropics, typically swapping between Hawaii and Mexico. Jack loved these trips and was always advocating for a day trip to the best surf spots. Our last family trip was to Cabo, where Jack managed to get pitted in some heavy Cerritos wedges (some surf jargon for those amongst us).

Jack could run. He could run long distances very fast. He didn’t have the most fluid stride, but he made up for it with great stamina and incredible mental strength. He seemed to disassociate himself from pain. For those who run, you know that is the greatest challenge. Jack started competitive running by participating in the Junior Carlsbad races at age 6. He joined the Valley middle school track and cross-country teams and ran at the top of the team for three years straight. Jack made the Varsity cross country and track teams his freshman year at Carlsbad High School. Aside from lettering in both sports, he also earned the “Rising Star” award from his cross-country coaches as a freshman. The only challenge to his running career was the minor fact that he really, really didn’t like to run. Sorry coaches.

Jack moved to Coastal Academy High School for his sophomore year and met a whole new group of friends. Best of all for Jack, he got to play baseball there. He loved being part of the Stingrays’ team, and though the season was cut short due to COVID, he was thrilled to be playing baseball again.

Jack’s summer was off to a great start; he had two jobs, he was working towards his driver’s license, and was have fun terrorizing the shoppers at local mall with his buddies. He was surfing nearly every day, and talked about starting a surfing school for the deaf as he was becoming fluent in ASL. Then, in the early morning hours of June 24th 2020, a terrible car crash took him from us. He was 16 years old.

Jack taught me how to be a parent. He let my wife and I fumble our way through every first new step that parents confront. He taught me how deep unconditional love can be, and the incredible joy that is available in such a relationship. He taught us all how to embrace life, to live it to its fullest, to be humble yet strong, to be loyal and still cheeky, and to be patient and loving towards each other. Jack’s greatest lesson is to live each moment vividly and in awe of its beauty no matter the circumstances. #LiveForJack.

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