In October of 2022, a pack of 300 mourning surfers dotted the blue swells of the North Packery Beach in Corpus Christi for a funeral rite known as a paddle out. Only days after Texan artist-surfer extraordinaire John Olvey rode his last wave on that very channel, family, friends and fellow surfers gathered for a final goodbye. His ashes became one with the sea that afternoon, but according to his loved ones, his soul had always been intertwined with the saltwater.
“I was told by many participants that John’s was one of the largest [paddle outs] they’d ever seen,” said Yvonne Olvey, his lifelong partner. Finding each other while working in the hotel industry in Houston in the ’80s, they fell into the kind of love unique to one’s youth—one that stayed between them for the next 40 years of their lives.
“I was in no condition to join in; John had only been gone nine days,” she continued. “I gave his best friend, Patrick Kelley, the owner of Dockside Surfshop, a biodegradable urn. He was in the center of the paddle out, and he let the ashes flow. I was able to witness that from the sidelines.”
Up until his final day, John rode on the backs of the coastal waters, picking up state and national titles throughout his 40-year career in professional surfing. His legacy, however, extends much further than his trophies, etched permanently onto his painted canvases and surfboard sculptures and within the cultural memory of the Corpus Christi community. By his untimely death, John had solidified his memory as not only a generational local artist, but a humble community man.
“Everyone who knew John knew him for how giving he was,” explained Yvonne. “People knew they could count on him, and he was always humble about everything he did.”
The vibrancy found within his later artworks pulled from the passion he felt for the sport since the day he built his first surfboard at 10 years old. From canvas paintings and murals to the carved boards that became his signature medium, John’s work often portrayed a surfer’s paradise.
“His art was always tied to surfing and the ocean,” said Yvonne. “The waves and the ocean calmed him down, ever since he was a little kid. Surfing was his escape from work and his life at home.”
With the encouragement and entrepreneurial spirit of his wife, John left his unfulfilling career to dedicate himself fully to his artistry. Their home on the Corpus shore transformed into an art studio where he brushed his first oil on canvas paintings. By the end of 2010, the two officially began to sell John Olvey originals. They embarked on the journey together—John in charge of channeling the city’s gorgeous beachfront and his life’s work out on the waves into art pieces, and Yvonne working behind the scenes managing his brand, his price sheets and his clientele.
Like any talented surfer, John’s eyes still remained fixed on the horizon, waiting patiently for the next wave. This time, that wave came in the shape of sculpture.
“He loved to paint tropical landscapes on canvas, so it made sense for him to move on to painting surfboards,” said Yvonne. “He had this surfboard that was broken in half, and one day he just decided to start carving it.”
As an established artist in the Coastal Bend, John made sure to give back to his community through the donation of various works to surf organizations like the Texas Gulf Surfing Association and the Texas Surf Museum, volunteering his time at Church Unlimited and through coaching the next generation of surfers.
In the years since his death, Yvonne searches for solace in her grief by continuing her late husband’s philanthropic spirit. Started in his honor in 2023, the John Olvey Scholarship awards deserving student surfers funds to use toward their college educations. This past April, Yvonne presented the winner with her $3,000 check herself.
“My main goal is always keeping his memory and his work alive,” she said. “I’m happy to be able to keep doing what he loved, but it doesn’t bring him back. He’s still not here to see it, so it’s bittersweet.”
Though his loss reverberated through the surf and arts scene, John’s fingerprints still remain along the Gulf Coast. When she misses John, Yvonne visits his 12-foot-tall white cross sitting in the dunes of North Packery. His final work hangs in the lobby of the American Bank on Padre Island, and a permanent exhibit exists inside the Kokomo Yacht Club down the street. Along the beach he called home, his soul will remain embedded in the sea until the coast dries out.
