An avid surfer. A father and son. Beloved matriarchs. Families mourn LA fire victims

As a shell-shocked and devastated city contends with raging wildfires, anxious families in and around Los Angeles await news from house-by-house searches for remains of those who died.

The grim task began during a respite from the powerful Santa Ana winds which whipped the fires into hurricanes of destruction, swiftly engulfing neighborhoods, business districts, and mountainside enclaves.

"I don't expect good news," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. "It looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas."

The death toll as of Tuesday was at least 25. One man's body was found still holding a garden hose. A grandmother in her family home, despite her family's pleas. A father next to his son, stricken with cerebral palsy and laying in a bedroom.

Here's what we know about the lives lost in the infernos:

Arthur Simoneau, hang-glider with 'a magnetic pull'

Jeff Bjorck knew Arthur Simoneau for 30 years through their shared love of hang-gliding. He told USA TODAY the 69-year-old was soft-spoken but "when he spoke, it was substantive."

"I always looked for him in the loading area whenever I pulled up to go flying," said Bjorck. "He was a great companion while driving up, setting up, and tearing down. We spoke mostly about flying and our mutual love of nature."

Simoneau spoke often with great pride about his son, and "viewed every flight as a good flight," Bjorck said in a text to USA TODAY. "Arthur also always had a ready smile, and it was genuine. What you saw was what you got."

A GoFundMe account publicized by friends in the Topanga Local Facebook page had raised more than $18,000 as of Monday afternoon.

"Arthur was somebody who made a strong impression on everybody he met," the GoFundMe, started by Andre Simoneau, said, noting that he had a "magnetic pull on all of us." "And not because of his salesman’s charisma or overwhelming friendliness. It was hard not to with his distinctive ponytail, his primeval aversion to closed-toe footwear, or whatever other quirk he was showcasing that day.

Simoneau's family and friends "always knew he wouldn’t die of old age or illness," the fundraiser said. "Between hanggliding multiple times per week, riding motorcycles with a 'for novelty use only' helmet, and skiing rock-lined chutes at Social Security age, it was always in the back of our heads that he would die in spectacular 'Arthur' fashion."

Annette Rossilli

Annette Rossilli, 85, died after refusing to evacuate the Pacific Palisades home she lived in with her dog, canary, two parrots and turtle, according to the home health care company that provided her care. Fay Vahdani, president of Luxe Homecare, told USA TODAY she saw Rossilli last month while visiting her clients during the holidays.

“I found her really lovely, bubbly. She went out of her way to thank me for sending such a good caregiver to take care of her,” Vahdani said. “She was so sweet and nice.”

Rossilli had two children and had been living alone in her Spanish-style home since her husband’s death, Vahdani said. “The family are very devastated,” she said.

Vahdani said Rossilli had trouble walking and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which made it difficult to breathe, and had been receiving in-home care since May.

When the evacuations began, Rossilli's neighbors and caregiver offered to help her leave multiple times, but she was adamant that she didn’t want to abandon her pets, according to Vahdani. Firefighters found her body on Wednesday, Vahdani said.

Erliene L. Kelley

Erliene L. Kelley's granddaughter Briana Navarro began posting on X on Wednesday that her family's Altadena, California, home was in danger of being engulfed by the wildfire raging around it.

Navarro, who confirmed the account to the USA TODAY Network, posted later that the house had been lost and again that she was "hoping and praying that I can find my grandmother."

"I last talked to her at 1:30 a.m. She texted my dad at 3 a.m. saying they were evacuating her, but that's the last contact that was had," Navarro said.

But the evacuation never happened. "When my dad was about to leave my grandma's house, she was sitting in her room in all white pajamas, in the dark, holding the flashlight to her face," Navarro wrote. "He said he's never seen her look more at peace in her life. I said she looked like an angel, and the light shinning was a halo."

At 8:50 p.m., Navarro posted that her grandmother had died. On a GoFundMe page, she posted photos of her family and her grandmother and the home turned to rubble. "We have lost everything due to the fire and are truly devastated."

Victor Shaw

Victor Shaw died when the Eaton Fire consumed his neighborhood of Altadena, The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed Sunday. Shaw died due to smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, according to the medical examiner.

Relatives told KTLA-TV his home had been in his family for 55 years.

Shaw's family members told the Los Angeles outlet they discovered his body on the side of the road near the home, with a garden hose still in his hand. KTLA reported that Shaw lived in the home with his younger sister and that she had tried to get him to leave when the rest of the family fled following evacuation orders.

The 66-year-old had some health issues that limited his ability to get around well, she told ABC News.

Rodney Nickerson

Rodney Nickerson had remained in the home he bought in 1968 through other fires and wanted to wait for this one out as well, his daughter told KTLA-TV.

But his home was in the same Altadena neighborhood as Shaw's and Kelley's, and he, too died in the fire, family members told The New York Times. Nickerson was a former aerospace engineer for Lockheed Martin and was, at 82, still an active dean in his church.

His family was well-known in the area, his son told the Times. His grandfather founded an insurance company, Golden State Mutual Life, and a housing project in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Nickerson Gardens, was named for the patriarch, the Times reported.

Anthony Mitchell and Justin Mitchell

In a phone call early Wednesday, Anthony Mitchell told his daughter, Hajiime White, that the fire was in his yard, The Washington Post reported. He was going to have to evacuate with his son, Justin, who was bedridden with cerebral palsy and used a computer to communicate.

But they didn't make it out.

In a post on Facebook, White wrote, "My daddy and baby brother is Gonneee!!"

Cousin Rita Cook told CBS News that family members are still trying to wrap their heads around the loss. "Anthony was such a great guy, businessman, family man," she said, adding that "he was such a jewel."

Wildfires ravage Los Angeles: Here's how you can help

Randall Miod

Randall Miod, 55, passed away defending the beloved Malibu beach house he had lived in for decades, his mother, Carol Smith, told CNN. Detectives, she said, had found remains inside the Pacific Coast Highway home.

"He’d been through so many of these fires and made it through unscathed. I think he thought he could do it again," Smith told CNN. "Now that I’m realizing how many memories he had in that home, I can understand why he didn’t want to leave."

His friend, Corina Cline, told the Washington Post that Miod often called the house the "Crab Shack," in reference to his nickname Crawdaddy.

Relatives and friends remembering Miod on social media described him as an avid surfer, a lover of people, and always the life of the party.

Evelyn McClendon

Zaire Calvin lost his sister, Evelyn McClendon, to the Eaton Fire in Altadena, he told 60 Minutes. Calvin said he separated from his sister while trying to get his baby and mother to safety.

According to Calvin, she lived in a separate home next door. When he returned after the storm, he told 60 Minutes that her car was still in the driveway.

Calvin told CNN that he and his cousin began to dig in the rubble around McClendon’s home and found her remains.

Rory Sykes

A former Australian child actor born blind with cerebral palsy is among the dead in the Palisades Fire, his mother announced.

Rory Callum Sykes, 32, died in his Malibu cottage on Wednesday as his mother, Shelley, who lived on the estate, tried to save him, she said on social media and in a news interview. He had difficulty walking, she said.

During the fires, she told the Australian news outlet 10 News First that she tried to call 911, but could not connect to a responder. As she tried to put out cinders on the roof using a water hose, the water ran out, she said in a social media post on Thursday

She has a broken arm, she told 10 News First, and couldn’t lift or move him.

“He said, ‘Mom, leave me,’” Shelley Sykes said through tears in the interview. “And no mom could leave their kid.”

She drove to the local fire station for help, she said, but firefighters also didn’t have water. She later found her son’s cottage burned to the ground. Their 17-acre estate also burned down Wednesday, Shelley Sykes said.

While the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner hasn’t listed Rory Sykes’ death, she said he died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Shelley Sykes, a British-born Australian actor, wrote a book about her son’s disabilities and how he overcame odds. Born in Great Britain, Rory Sykes was raised in Australia and lived in the U.S.

Charles Mortimer

Charles Mortimer, 84, was identified Sunday as one of the victims of the Palisades Fire by The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. Mortimer died in the hospital due to an acute myocardial infarction, the effects of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.

Mortimer’s niece, Meredith, remembered him as a world traveler who loved the Chicago Cubs in a statement to ABC News.

“He will be remembered as a man with a quick wit, a brilliant mind, and a love for his family,” she said. “His infectious smile and never-ending sense of humor will be greatly missed by his friends and family all over the world.”

Dalyce Curry, beloved matriarch and retired actress

"God is love and Momma Dee was too," Dalyce Curry's granddaughter Lorée Beamer-Wilkinson wrote on Facebook.

The 95-year-old was a retired actress who'd had bit parts in movies including "The Ten Commandments," "Lady Sings the Blues" and "The Blues Brothers," Curry, was still active despite her age, her granddaughter told ABC7-TV in Los Angeles.

"We are devastated, and it’s difficult to comprehend how her life came to this end," Beamer-Wilkinson wrote.

"Momma D was an extraordinary woman who welcomed me and my children into her life with open arms," Beamer-Wilkinson added. "She radiated positivity, showed grace, and lived as a shining example of strength, resilience, and kindness. Her story is one of breaking barriers, overcoming challenges, and spreading love wherever she went."

(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)

Contributing: Thao Nguyen and Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY; Reuters; Janet Wilson, The Desert Sun

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LA fire victims remembered by family as death toll climbs