Mourners remember teacher Daniel Bobis

Just as the sun began to set, surfers paddled out to sea Sunday in memory of Long Beach High School math teacher Daniel Bobis, whose body was found July 28 in Indonesia days after he disappeared while surfing.

Some 200 people gathered at Bobis' memorial, at the boardwalk off Laurelton Boulevard in Long Beach, where friends and family shared memories.

Andy Smith, a history teacher at Long Beach High, mentioned Bobis' passion for helping students.

"It's going to be the daily interaction with Danny that we'll miss so much," Smith said.

Bobis also started the school's surf team and was a co-founder of the Long Beach Surfer's Association.

Fernando Bobis, Daniel's first cousin, said that the family has been struggling, but their happy memories of Danny help them cope.

Bobis' wife, Rachel, declined to speak, but did write a letter to her late husband that Daniel's friend Maurice Mitchell read aloud to the crowd.

"The past 8 1/2 years of my life have easily been the best," it read. "It's because of you that I am who I am today. I hope you know how much I love and adore you."