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Shane Kristofer Stromar was born in Torrance to his parents, Janette and Peter, on August 1st, 1982. He was raised with his brother, Ryan, in Redondo Beach. From the very beginning of his life, Shane was very active. He had a good childhood and he was close with Ryan. Everybody thought Shane and Ryan were twins when they were young because Shane was almost as big as his brother.

Living so close to the beach, Shane fell in love with the ocean and surfing. As a young child, he spent summers at the beach. As a teenager, he surfed with his dad in Manhattan Beach; something he loved very much.

The family celebrated the traditional holidays and Shane loved all of the holidays. At Thanksgiving, he liked to help with the cooking. His father was half Austrian and half Croatian, so this past Christmas Shane made a sausage that his dad and grandfather loved called Chevapchichi. His grandfather taught him how to make it when he was a boy. When he was little Shane would ask his mom on Thanksgiving when she was going to cook "that big fat bird."

At Christmastime, he loved seeing the Christmas tree and he always got presents from Santa Claus. When he was eight-years-old, he saw a skateboard under the tree for Ryan and he was upset, until he found a skateboard with his name on it, too. Whatever one boy got, the other boy got. Their parents made sure they were very fair. The family also held birthday parties for the boys during their young years. Since his birthday was in the Summertime, sometimes they would celebrate at a water park or theme park with his family and friends.

In the winter months, the boys went snowboarding. In the summer months, Shane loved every sort of activity from kayaking to river rafting. When he was young, his father had sailboats and Shane loved to go sailing with his family.

Every August for many years, the family went to Jalama Beach just north of Santa Barbara. It started out with three families and over the years grew to many more families. It was wonderful. They'd rent a motor home and take the boys' bicycles along so the boys could ride their bikes and play with freedom. They had fun with their friends and they had great times. The family even celebrated some of Shane's birthdays at Jalama Beach when they were camping.

Peter traveled many air miles each year for his work so there were many trips as the boys were growing up. Trips to Maui and Oahu, Hawaii, the Grand Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Puerta Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, Rosarito Beach and Ensenada, Mexico were among a few. One year the family rented a houseboat on Lake Havasu and another vacation was spent with their friends, the Compton family, in Lake Havasu. Shane shared many fun and funny memories of these times.

Shane attended school in Redondo Beach. He started school at Beryl Heights Elementary, then Parras Middle School, and Redondo Union High School. After high school, Ryan introduced Shane to his friend, Nicole. Shane and Nicole knew each other through elementary school and high school, although they were a few years apart. The couple started dating and fell in love. Shane was offered a job in Idaho managing a self-storage facility. He had leadership skills and he was good at his work. Shane and Nicole lived Idaho from 2002 to 2010. During that time, Shane took classes at Boise State University. In August of 2007, Shane and Nicole flew home so they could get married in Long Beach, California. They chose a location overlooking the Ocean for their wedding. Shane loved living in Idaho. On Sundays in the summertime, they'd float down the Boise River in a raft, or they would go up to Lucky Peak to fish. Sometimes they would ride their bikes down the greenbelt and pick wild berries. Other times they would explore Idaho by car, stopping somewhere in nature to have a picnic. In the wintertime, they'd hike in snowshoes and go into the woods so Shane could cut down their Christmas tree. One New Year's Eve, they took snowmobiles into the mountains and spent the night in a yurt. They went snowboarding together and with friends. They made lots of friends in Idaho, and enjoyed barbeques and parties with friends.

In 2010, Shane moved back to California, and soon after was hired to manage several storage facilities in San Diego. In October of 2011, he was relocated to northern California. While there, he did asset management for several bank owned properties. In August of 2013, Shane moved back to San Diego to look for a job closer to his family. In August, the family celebrated his birthday and they took him out to dinner. For the last five months, Shane lived with his parents in Encinitas. In the mornings, he would come upstairs to have coffee with his mom and stepfather, Bob. He would always say, "Hola Mamacita!" They enjoyed dinners with Shane, and he always enjoyed a home cooked meal. He gave his mother so much joy in life.

Shane loved the freedom of being out on the water and surfing. He and his friend, Andrew, would surf together. Sometimes they would have a big barbeque at Andrew's house. Andrew's son, Kaden, loved Shane and called him "Uncle Shane." Shane was Kaden's godfather.

With many favorites in life, Shane loved listening to music, sometimes country music and other times Rap or Rock. One of his favorite performers was Van Morrison and he downloaded all of his songs onto his phone. He loved songs by singer Darius Rucker, too. He liked reading the newspaper on his computer and reporting things he read to his mom and Bob. He read books as well, and recently, he gave his stepfather, Bob, a special book to read about a doctor in Vietnam.

Two favorite hobbies were surfing and cooking. When he was young, he'd cook for his friend, Andrew, who was often at the Stromar family home in Redondo Beach. Years later with Nicole, he'd help her make Mediterranean dishes. At Christmas he would make rum balls for Nicole. His favorite restaurants were Swami's Cafe in Encinitas, El Pueblo, a Mexican take-out restaurant in Encinitas, Eat at Joe's in Redondo Beach and El Tarasco in Manhattan Beach. He also enjoyed going to Garcia's, a Mexican restaurant, where he'd always order a Cadillac Margarita. He liked to drink Gatorade and endless bottles of water every day. He loved vegetables, and his favorite was Brussels sprouts. He wanted to be healthy.

Shane loved watching movies. He liked comedies best and he had a great sense of humor. Matthew McConaughey was his favorite actor, and "Mud" was a recent favorite film. On television, he liked to watch The Big Bank Theory and Modern Family. Shane was also a wonderful storyteller and he had many adventurous stories he shared with his family.

With a love of animals, Shane had two dogs over the years. The family dog was Dakota, a black Lab mix, who lived to be 16. And, in Idaho, he loved his sweet dog, Hurley. As a child he also had two hamsters, Ben and Vinnie, and two fish, Sam and Gus.

Sadly, in October 2009, Shane's father, Peter, was hospitalized and passed away on October 30, 2009. The last thing Shane said to his dad before he passed was, "Sail on sweet sailor." His father had a big influence in his life and honestly, that loss was very difficult for Shane. As father and son, they had built things together, they'd hang out in the garage together, and they surfed together in Manhattan Beach and Costa Rica. There were so many good memories. His father's memorial was held in the same Bluewater Grill Restaurant a little over four years ago.

Shane also enjoyed special times with his brother, Ryan, going on Surf trips together, and working on Ryan's old Nova that never left the garage. On holidays, they often shared memories of childhood and good times.

This past Christmas was the first Christmas Shane didn't spend with his family because he decided to go to Sacramento to be with friends. Before he left for Sacramento, he gave Bob a birthday card that said "Hope you know what an important part of our family you are. Hope you know how very much you're cared about." On his Christmas card to his parents he wrote, "Merry Christmas to the best parents a guy could ask for. Sorry I won't be here at Christmas, but I'll be back..." The last message Shane texted to his mother on December 29th at 5:56 pm were the words, "I love you." She wrote back to him, "Love you, too."

Shane's passing has come unexpectedly. Janette feels Shane is at peace now and she hopes he's with his dad. Shane will best be remembered as a caring, kind, and loving young man, with a wonderful sense of humor. The best parts of Shane's life were his family and his friends. He was truly a devoted son to his mother. He never ended a text, an email, or a phone call without saying, "Love you, mom." Janette will miss touching him, feeling comfort in his giant strong bear hugs, and listening to his jokes and stories about his trips and other adventures. When it is appropriate his brother, Ryan, will scatter Shane's ashes in the sea in the South Bay near Redondo Beach, where he grew up. It was Shane's last wish.

Janette and Bob have made a donation, in memory of Shane, to the Shiley Eye Center in La Jolla, which provides eye care and mobile units for underprivileged children. Additional memorial donations are welcome in Shane's name to http://shileyeye.ucsd.edu.



  



 




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