Michael Joyce tribute: Friends and family mourn true Sunshine Coast gentleman
Sunshine Coast surfing identities and family members have paid tribute to original Moffateer Michael ‘Birdman’ Joyce who died following a short battle with cancer.
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Surfing identities and family members have paid tribute to a revolutionary Sunshine Coast businessman and original Moffateer who died following a short battle with cancer.
Friends and family have mourned the loss of the widely loved Michael “Birdman” Joyce who died last week.
Mr Joyce succumbed to the debilitating disease on January 4 – four days before his 70th birthday.
His eldest son Dan said the cancer had started in his father’s throat and later moved to the kidneys.
Loved ones have described him as a hard worker, a talented surfer, a lover of life and most of all a “true gentleman”.
Mr Joyce leaves behind wife Julie, children Dan, Jesse, Eva and Lucy, and 10 doting grandchildren.
In his early years, Mr Joyce was one of the nine original Moffateers hand-picked by surfing icons Ma and Pa Bendall in the 1960s who formed Caloundra’s first surfriders club.
While the Moffateers still exist, the group was the foundation for the Windansea Boardriders Club.
Mr Joyce would go on to earn the nickname Birdman from his unusual “winged” surfing stance.
Mr and Mrs Joyce owned surfwear retailer Premo Pants along present day Ocean St, Maroochydore, which was the first store to sell Levi jeans on the Sunshine Coast.
Mr Joyce went on to become a master maker of tempeh, an Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans, at Mighty Bean Soyfoods at Cooloolabin for almost 40 years.
Mrs Joyce said the pair were storeholders in the same spot under the trees at the Eumundi Saturday Markets for almost a generation.
“He had a lot of friends and was a real innovator. He was very generous, kind hearted and people just loved him,” Mrs Joyce said.
“He realised the benefits of organic produce long before it became popular.”
His son Dan remembered his father as a hardworking man who never took a sick day.
He said the four children’s careers were all shaped by their upbringing.
“I’m an ecologist, my brother has a ginger farm, my sister is a naturopath and the other sister works at a pharmacy,” Mr Joyce said.
“Growing up we had good food, good eating, a respect for the environment.
“Dad never had a day off, even when he did he was always going on some sort of adventure.
“He definitely influenced us.”
Tributes have poured in from long-time Caloundra surfing identities who described Mr Joyce as a “true gentleman”.
Fellow Moffateer Andrew Geddes said the original group was saddened to hear of Mr Joyce’s death.
“He was a wonderful bloke, just one of those regular people that we all loved,” Mr Geddes said.
“So affable, so friendly. Very much a gentleman.”
The man who coined Mr Joyce’s “Birdman” nickname was another original Moffateer, Wayne Jones.
“We were surfing at Noosa, a great day, hardly anyone around and all of a sudden this thing comes along with his arms coming out of both sides, it looked like he was going to take off,” Mr Jones said.
“From that day on we called him Birdman, or Birdy. It just stuck.”
Mr Jones said his long-time friend was a “quiet, fun-loving man”.
“He was a top bloke who had such a beautiful family,” he said.
“We had some great times together, surfing, sliding down the Wappa Dam. It’s a sad loss.”
Windansea Boardriders past president Laurie Jarman remembered driving his beaten-up Chevrolet with Mr Joyce to northern NSW in 1969.
“We were just teenagers living the good life, long hair, beaches, surfing, parties, some of the best years of our lives,” Mr Jarman said.
“But even then, he was just a true gentleman.
“My old Chevy broke down and we had to hitchhike back. We had so many good stories together.”
Mr Joyce’s life will be celebrated at 11am on Thursday, January 13 at Gregson and Weight Nambour.
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