INDUSTRY NEWS In Memoriam: Jerry, Michael, Nancy and Lance – by Cathryn Castle Garcia, Owner, ClearStoryCoach.com, The Azores Cathryn is a writer, business strategist, & co-owner of C2G2Productions.com, a multimedia production company.
October began with the loss of four remarkable figures in the diving world: Jerry Beaty, Michael Menduno, Nancy Easterbrook, and Lance Rennka – each leaving an enduring legacy of lead- ership, innovation, and passion. Jerry Beaty – Manufacturing, Travel, Publishing, DEMA Leadership
Nancy began diving in the early 1970s and, in 1994, opened Divetech on Grand Cayman, pioneering technical and re- breather diving in the region. She championed freediving safety, authored manuals, and created training programs. Nancy founded Inner Space, an annual closed-circuit re- breather event (2004–2019), and was instrumental in sinking the USS Kittiwake as an artificial reef and placing the Guardian of the Reef sculpture. Among many honors, she was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame and named an Hon- ouree of the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame. Lance Rennka – Commercial and Recreational Diving Vi- sionary Lance taught himself to dive in the 1950s and went on to
Jerry entered the diving industry in the late 1970s as a man- ufacturers’ sales rep, later co-owning All Sun Tours, a whole- sale dive travel company serving retailers and their clients. In 1996, he joined Dive Training magazine, rising to Associate Publisher of both Dive Training and Dive Center Business. After
the magazines ended print in 2020, he contin- ued as a consultant, help- ing tourism bureaus build dive tourism platforms. Jerry served on the boards of DEMA, Reef Renewal International, Sea of Change, and the Shark Research Institute. Remembered as “the nicest guy” who “knew everyone,” he was known for his suit-and-tie pres- ence at DEMA and his signature tropical shirts elsewhere. A memorial will be held Nov. 13, 2025, at the Rosen Cen- tre during DEMA. Michael Menduno – Technical Diving Pioneer
become one of the earli- est NAUI instructors and a PADI Course Director. As a commercial diver and marine technician, he worked on saturation div- ing projects for Global Marine in the North Sea and served as a Diving Officer and Aquanaut with the Puerto Rico In- ternational Undersea Lab- oratory. After losing an arm in a work accident, he returned to diving within months. In the 1990s, he helped develop and direct the Scott Carpenter Man in the Sea program at the Jules Verne Undersea
Park and MarineLab in Key Largo, FL. I was privileged to know each of these extraordinary people not just as industry colleagues but as friends and mentors. Though their careers spanned different eras and sectors, they shared common traits: curiosity, tenacity, and optimism. They pursued their goals relentlessly, shared their knowledge gen-
Known as “M2,” Michael coined the term technical diving and was instrumental in bringing tech diving into the sport mainstream. He founded and edited AquaCORPS and Techni- cal Diver (1990–1996) and later published InDepth. Michael also launched the original TEK.Conferences and Rebreather Forums. His proudest achievements were improving diving safety and uniting sport, commercial, scientific, and military diving communities. Global Underwater Explorers remem- bered him for his inventive spirit, empathy, and investigative curiosity. Nancy Easterbrook – Cayman Islands Diving Innovator
erously, and inspired a shared passion for under- water exploration. Collectively, they left the diving world – and all of us – better for their presence. On behalf of Scuba Diving Industry Magazine, we offer sincere condolences to their families and friends.
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