The self-described “eco-hooligan” and retired Santa Maria Valley biology teacher Bill Deneen passed away on Sept. 24 at the age of 93.
A resident of Nipomo, Deneen was well known at Central Coast public meetings and newspaper opinion pages, including the Sun‘s, for his stances on environmental preservation, access, and other issues. He taught biology at Santa Maria High School and Allan Hancock College before retiring and focusing on activism and the sustainable farm he tended on his property.
Local photographer and long-distance-running enthusiast Luis Escobar met Deneen in the 1980s when he moved to Santa Maria and was looking for somewhere nice to run with people.
“Bill has been a distance runner his entire life. He was from Massachusetts and he ran there,” Escobar told the Sun. “He used to be a hell of a good runner too; he hosted many runs at Point Sal, which transitioned into hikes over the years, and then short walks, and then meetups at the gate as his health and ability to make it up that hill deteriorated.”
Deneen hosted those runs and hikes across Santa Barbara and SLO counties at beaches and trails he loved, Escobar explained. Those meetups often included “political talks,” Escobar said, especially at locations like Point Sal, which Deneen was “passionate” about preserving.
Escobar said that Deneen was also a guiding influence for him when he set out to help establish the Orcutt Hill Trails near Orcutt Community Park. Although he didn’t adopt Deneen’s most “extreme opinions” in assuring the land use, he was “helpful” to Escobar through the process.
Deneen later honored Escobar with the Bill Deneen Environmental Trust Award for the project in Orcutt.
“His efforts, I believe, have had a lasting and positive impact on the Central Coast and far beyond,” Escobar said. “This community is a different place because of Bill, and he’s certainly going to be missed.”
This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 4, 2018.