The event friends and family have in mind for Saturday to honor the life of Cazadero resident Martin Linley is the kind of celebration Linley himself might have enjoyed - full of stories, sharing and jocularity.
The longtime youth coach, sportsman and adventure seeker shook his head at the idea of a funereal gathering, instead telling his wife, Beth Linley, he would want a celebration of the life he'd had in the event he died.
"He wanted songs and stories, and not mourning," Beth Linley said Wednesday, nine days after losing her husband to a heart attack.
Martin Linley, 51, a veteran scuba diver known widely as a soccer coach throughout Sonoma County, died Dec. 7 while he and his wife were diving off the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean.
It was the Cazadero couple's fourth wedding anniversary.
Martin Linley reboarded the dive boat ahead of his wife, who found crew members performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him when she came aboard, friend Paul Richardson said.
A deck hand told Beth Linley that her husband had complained of dizziness and numbness before he collapsed, Richardson said.
His death, she said, came quickly "after a beautiful dive" that was videotaped and shows him looking "relaxed and happy."
Martin Linley, a former Adventure Scout and rally car racer in his native England, was an agricultural engineer by trade but embraced adventure of all sorts.
He was a Class V river kayaker, a double-black diamond skier and a veteran diver who made repeated dive trips to Cancun and nearby Cozumel on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
He shined, friends said, when working with youth - especially "the young puppies" who learned the sport of soccer at his heels, teaching them with respect, good humor and affection.
Linley also was a court appointed special advocate for two abused youths, his wife said.
The couple additionally had been cleared recently to work as foster parents.
Their dog, a German shepherd named Caz, was rescued after Hurricane Katrina.
Linley was, his wife said, "the nicest man I ever met."
"And that's not because I loved him; that's why I fell in love with him."
Family and friends are invited to celebrate his life at a wake Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m. and running into the night at the Blue Heron Restaurant in Duncans Mills.
Those attending can bring stories or photos to share, and drink a pint to his memory. Live band music will start up around 6 p.m., and the event will go until last call.
In addition to his wife, Linley is survived by his mother, Moreen
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Linley of Leeds, England; brother, Clive Linley of Leeds; nephews, Matthew Linley and William Linley of Leeds; and step-sons Nicholas Malgieri of San Francisco and Joshua Malgieri of Cotati.
Saturday's celebration is at 25300 Steelhead Blvd. in Duncans Mills, (707) 865-2261 or blueheronrestaurant.com. Friends are invited to stop by anytime during the event.
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