Derek Russell, long-time Humboldt resident and owner of Arcata’s Ampt skate shop, died July 31 after suffering a massive heart attack during a camping trip near Roseburg, Ore. He was 37.

Russell’s impact on the local skating scene cannot be overstated. He ran Arcata’s summer skating camp for years, and his teaching influenced countless skaters.

“You work five years for Arcata’s Rec department teaching kids how to skateboard for a month and a half each summer, and you have a lot of reach within this community,” said friend and owner of Ramparts Skate Park Riley Morrison in an interview with the Outpost. “A lot of these kids between the ages of 17 to 10 were literally shown how to skateboard from Derek.”

Local skate shop Ampt opened in 2002, when Russell was in high school. 

“He immediately found a home there, hanging out and working at the shop over the years,” reads a statement from assorted family and friends. “As the heart of Arcata’s tight-knit skateboarding scene, the importance of the shop cannot be overstated. When Derek bought Ampt in 2018, it was a dream come true. He embodied the phrase ‘skater owned and operated.’”

He dedicated his efforts to getting more skate parks to open. He was instrumental in the creation of the skate parks in McKinleyville and the almost-completed park in Willow Creek.

Most of Ampt’s products have been bought out by well-wishers after his death, and there’s a GoFundMe set up by his partner Isabel Angell, his former spouse Cecilia Rivera, and longtime friend and Ampt associate Nick Kraus.

“The kid was a visionary and had a heart of gold,” Morrison said. “I firmly believe that what he saw for his community was incredibly appropriate. And that vision — we’ll keep working towards it: more skate parks, more access for the kids. Derek was a young kid when I met him, and he was a young kid when he passed, and it’s always hard when they’re a lot younger. It’s hard anytime a buddy passes, but it’s really hard when it’s someone like that. There was still a lot more — there is still a lot more left in the journey.”

“I’ve known Derek since he was a teenager,” said Charlie Caldwell, director of the Humboldt Skatepark Collective in an interview with the Outpost. “He was just a big-hearted guy. Everyone knows him, and he’s a pinnacle of our community. He cares about everyone. It’s a huge loss for all of us.”

There will be an unofficial memorial in his honor tomorrow, Aug. 9 at 2 p.m., at the Arcata Skate Park.