Shampa's Pies owner Haruwn Wesley died Dec. 20 at the age of 64 after succumbing to injuries from a tragic Dec. 13 accident while bodyboarding at Fort Point near the Golden Gate Bridge, according to a GoFundMe to cover expenses.
The San Francisco native and resident was an incredible surfer and athlete, a loving husband and father of two, a jazz musician, a baker of delicious pies and a well-loved member of the city's community, said his wife of 20 years, Margaret Coles Wesley. He grew up in the Haight-Ashbury and graduated from McAteer High School (now Ruth Asawa School of the Arts).
Wesley used all his strength to be with his family in his final days at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.
He never woke up, but was aware and reactive, Coles Wesley said. "He squeezed my daughter’s hand," she said. "We played a lot of jazz for him."
Wesley leaves behind two children, one a student at Lowell High School and the other a student at San Francisco State University; three sisters; and dozens of extended family members and friends who loved him dearly.
He is also leaving behind his loyal customers at Shampa's Pies, opened in Pacifica only a block from the ocean in 2014. Wesley made the rounds at farmers markets and festivals, offering free samples of his sweet potato, chocolate cream and strawberry lemon pies.
"He would do tastings of his pies at farmers markets," Coles Wesley said. "Lots of little kids walked home with pies stashed in their pockets. He was frequently the only African American vendor. It was an experience to buy a pie from him. His customers loved his energy. He was famous for that."
After Wesley's accident, Coles Wesley temporarily closed the shop and donated 200 pies to S.F.'s Glide Memorial Church to help feed those in need. She said the family is figuring out how to proceed with the business.
The family has started a GoFundMe site to cover funeral expenses and medical costs from seven days in intensive care and to resolve costs with the bakery business.
Shampa's Pies owner Haruwn Wesley was born in San Francisco in 1956. He and his three siblings were raised in the city.
Joe McNallySurfing was a passion for Wesley, and he grew up paddling into the surf up and down the coast, from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay to S.F.'s Ocean Beach. His wife said he surfed daily and opted to use his bodyboard because it brought him closer to the water. Despite his experience, just after 5 p.m. on Dec. 13, a day when waves were forecast to reach 20 feet, something went terribly wrong. He "ran into a large rock, becoming unconscious and submerged underwater," said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesperson with the the San Francisco Fire Department.
Three surfers carried Wesley to shore while administering CPR in a rescue that the fire department called "heroic." Hunter Chiles, an off-duty paramedic, worked with Andy Olive and Jack Treacy to perform lifesaving measures before paramedics arrived.
"The surf community came around, got him out of the water and was able to administer CPR," said Jeff Skover, who has known Wesley for decades and surfed with him often at Fort Point. "Maggie said if it weren’t for the rescue, he wouldn’t have gone off in an ambulance. He wouldn't have had those last days with his family."
Skover said Wesley was a phenomenal athlete and when he was putting on his wet suit, revealing his ripped abs and fat-free body, he looked like Bruce Lee. He would bring his foam board into waves that no other boogie boarder would ride — and keep a smile on his face the entire time.
"The one thing about Haruwn that everyone says together is he was probably one of the most positive of the surfers," Skover said. "It was in a very sincere way. It wasn’t manufactured. When I’d see him and say, 'Hi Haruwn, how you doing,' he’d say, 'Blessed.' He was always on that positive note. You don’t get that from most surfers."
He was also an accomplished standup bass player, and Skover once saw him play with the late Donald "Duck" Bailey in Berkeley.
Wesley himself has rescued many people pulled out into the ocean by fierce waves and rip currents.
"I asked him once how many he had saved, and he had lost count at more than 6 or 7, and that was many years ago," Coles Wesley said.
A group of people shouting on the shore of Ocean Beach and pointing at the water once caught his eye, and Wesley swam 50 yards out into the turbulent surf, rescuing a man before the surf patrol arrived, she said.
In 2005, he saved a man whose life vest malfunctioned in a capsized sailboat under the Golden Gate Bridge. Wesley put the man on his back and surfed to shore, according to a report on the incident in Latitude 38, a sailing magazine.
"The day that it happened, he just came home a little late, and we were all kind of talking, and it came up," said Margaret, speaking to her husband's humble nature. "Yeah, you just go out and rescue somebody and you don’t make a big deal of it. Then they made a big deal out of it and he felt weird."
Coles Wesley said her husband lived his life in the present and being in the moment. She said he'd want people to honor him by doing what they love.
"I think he was a person who felt like you should stop focusing on all the wrong things and do the beautiful things," she said. "His life was really about being present in his surfing, being present and intentional in his food. Life is too short you have to be present. He lived his life that way. Don’t get ahead of yourself and just enjoy where you are right now."
December 23, 2020 at 08:28AM
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Beloved SF pie maker dies after tragic surfing accident - SF Gate
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