Ski Accident Victim Wasn’t Famous, but He’ll Be Remembered

Jim Kougasian was not a man of entertainment or politics like Sonny Bono. Nor was he an American royal in the vein of Michael Kennedy.

But the 42-year-old moving company manager from Huntington Beach encountered a similar fate last month when he perished after an accident on the slopes at Ski Sunrise near Wrightwood. Like Bono and Kennedy, he was an experienced skier and suffered fatal injuries on intermediate terrain.

“He was coming down a run, and there was a jump that most of all the skiers use, and he went over that and lost control, and went into the snow and into the ground,” said Jerry Price, general manager at the Ski Sunrise resort in Los Angeles County. “It’s the only fatality we’ve ever had in our 53 years, so it’s kind of a grievous thing for us too.”

The victim suffered head trauma in the Dec. 21 accident and was flown to a Pasadena hospital, where he died early the next day. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies stationed in Palmdale confirmed the account and declared the death an accident.

To honor Kougasian, Ski Sunrise renamed the slope Jim’s Run.

Now his supporters are pulling together to help the victim’s wife, Dawn, 40, and son, Willie, 5, face impending financial problems. The Costa Mesa Men’s Club and Mesa Verde Partners, who run the city-owned course, are co-sponsoring a benefit golf tournament Sunday at the Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club.

“Nobody who ever joined the Men’s Club became so endeared to so many people,” said Paul Lavelle, 43, a friend of the victim. “For a guy who had only been in the club two years, everybody loved him.”

He was not a great golfer but made up for it with enthusiasm.

“He had a really awkward swing, but it worked for him,” said Luis Cardenas, a bartender at the Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club. “He won some tournaments.”

Golf was a passion, but family was the love of his life.

“I’ve known my husband since we were children,” Dawn Kougasian said of their childhood together in Paramus, N.J.

Dawn moved from New Jersey to Huntington Beach in 1991 to be with Jim. They married Feb. 15, 1992, in Las Vegas and Willie was born later that year.

“It was a love story come true,” said Mary Kougasian, the victim’s mother. “They always loved each other when they were kids. It was just meant to be.”

Kougasian used his free time to hunt, golf, ski, fish and pal around with his enormous golden retriever, Louie.

“He did everything and lived life to the fullest,” Dawn said. “They all say that he brightened up rooms and made people laugh and smile and didn’t have a prejudiced bone in his body. He could always find a lighter side when there was a problem.”

At Movers International in Huntington Beach, Kougasian worked as an operations manager and was well liked, said Bob Johnson, vice president and general manager.

“He was very well known for [his] ability to stay relaxed under pressure and make friends quickly,” Johnson said. “He was very important to the morale of the team here.”

The fee for the Sunday golf tournament, 7 to 10 a.m., is $40 a player. The golf club is at 1701 Golf Course Drive in Costa Mesa.

Information: (714) 540-7500, Ext. 5.