Along with being called original, influential and legendary, Bob Cooper has been labeled "eccentric."

His wife and daughter agree with that designation, and not just because Cooper once wore his grandmother's fur coat to the beach and used to make Hawaiian shirts that went past his knees.

Cooper also wasn't shy about being a Mormon in the Australian surf scene.

"He's never been afraid to be different," said Caitlin Mackie, one of Cooper's five children. "He also instilled in us that it was a good thing … so you may as well run with it."

Cooper is considered a surfing pioneer who rode into prominence when the sport reached mainstream culture. But to his family, this descendant of the Martin and Willie handcart companies is a pioneer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia.

Read the full story on MormonTimes.com.