In 2015, Bill Denneen is shown as he protests the testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Bill Denneen, a World War II veteran who served as a U.S. Navy medic, stands with hand over heart during a 90th birthday party for him in June 2015 that included a remembrance of D-Day veterans.
Environmental activist Bill Denneen of Nipomo is brought to tears while reuniting with longtime friend Karola Dauber of Santa Maria during his 90th birthday party at the Dana Cultural Center in Nipomo in 2015.
Bill Denneen, left, greets Republican state Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian during a 90th birthday party for Denneen in 2015 at the Dana Cultural Center in Nipomo.
Nipomo’s self-described “eco-hooligan” Bill Denneen died peacefully in his sleep Monday night at the age of 93, according to friends.
Denneen was well-known throughout the Central Coast as a passionate environmentalist, opponent of offshore oil and offroading, defender of the dunes and supporter of Planned Parenthood.
Until recent years, when his age began to catch up with him, Denneen ran marathons, and he could often be seen riding around the Nipomo community on his bicycle or running along the roadsides wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts, running shoes and a white visor, his long white beard flowing in the wind standing out in sharp contrast to his nut-brown suntanned skin.
He was also a familiar figure driving his old beat-up pickup truck to run errands.
Born in Massachusetts, Denneen served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a pharmacist's mate, treating the wounded on D-Day.
After the war, he earned a degree in biology, moved to Nipomo and began teaching at Santa Maria High School in 1960.
He later taught at Hancock College, where he claimed the ultraconservative anti-communist John Birch Society “came after him” for teaching about contraception in his biology classes.
He retired from Hancock following a 25-year teaching career.
Denneen was also a family man, raising son Steve and daughter Katy, who took over his affairs and care in the last few months.
His education as a biologist and living on the Central Coast were likely factors that turned Denneen into a passionate environmentalist, or as he called himself, an “eco-hooligan.”
An anti-nuclear activist, Denneen and fellow Nipomo environmentalist Kathleen Goddard Jones were instrumental in preventing Pacific Gas and Electric Co. from building a nuclear power plant in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes, only to see it built up the coast north of Avila Beach.
But was proud of being arrested with other activists while protesting at the gates of Diablo Canyon Power Plant during its construction in the late 1960s.
John Lindsey, PG&E’s marine meteorologist and a media relations representative at Diablo Canyon, said although he and Denneen disagreed on a lot of things, they agreed on a lot of others.
“He was a really cool guy,” Lindsey said. “I really enjoyed him. He’d show up at all the (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) end of cycle meetings, and although he was anti-nuclear, he was a great guy.
“I’ll never forget, one time our chief nuclear officer, Ed Halpin, was at one of the (NRC) meetings,” Lindsey said. “Ed was a veteran and he had his Annapolis hat on, and Bill was asking him all these questions (about Diablo), kind of grilling him.
“Then Bill said, ‘And by the way, thank you for your service to our country.’ That’s just the kind of guy Bill was.
“Bill was a treasure, an absolute Central Coast treasure,” Lindsey added. “He always put a smile on my face. I was really sad to hear of his passing. He’ll be so missed by the Nipomo community.”
Denneen never shied away from expressing his feelings on a picket line, and after the Diablo demonstrations ended, he protested the testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Denneen was passionate about the dunes and their ecosystems, and he often led hikes to Black Lake, Oso Flaco Lake, Little Coreopsis Hill and other sites, including on Christmas and New Year’s days, and loved celebrating the summer solstice on the beach with friends and people he never met before.
He campaigned to shut down the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area and would preach about the environmental damage caused by off-roading to young people from Europe who stayed at the hostel he ran at his house.
That made him as unpopular with off-roading enthusiasts as his opposition to offshore oil development and the oil-by-rail terminal at the Philips 66 Santa Maria Refinery did with people in the oil and gas industry.
But even most of those he clashed with ideologically respected him for his passion and for remaining true to the causes he championed, and he could sometimes be seen talking cordially with opponents outside public meetings.
Herb Kandel, Denneen’s friend, collaborator and co-conspirator for more than 30 years, said that was because, even though he was “sometimes the lone voice in a very conservative area ... he stood his ground, and people respected that.”
“One of the things about Bill that was so extraordinary is that people who disagreed with Bill respected him because he talked his talk and walked his walk,” Kandel said.
“He got this gift, a picture, from a long-term advocate of vehicles in the dunes, and it said something about ‘my worthy opponent,’” Kandel said. “That really meant a lot to him.”
In addition to family and friends, Denneen’s 90th birthday party at the Dana Cultural Center in Nipomo in June 2015 even drew a few of his longtime adversaries and politicians from both sides of the aisle — Democratic Congresswoman Lois Capps and Republican Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian.
Kandel said when he found out the county was going to sell a 12-acre property in Nipomo, he asked Denneen what they should do with it, and he responded, “Create a native garden.”
“So he was the idea creator of Nipomo Native Garden,” Kandel said. “When we decided we wanted to dedicate a tree to him, Katcho was right there, even though they disagreed on a lot of things.”
Denneen also created the Bill Denneen Environmental Trust to underwrite and administer the Bill Denneen Environmental Award that has been given to 105 people so far for their lasting contribution to the environment on the Central Coast — and was given to Denneen himself at his 90th birthday party.
The honor comes with a monetary award, a photo of the dunes by noted Nipomo photographer David Stroup and Corrine Ardoin’s book “A Natural History of the Nipomo Mesa Region.”
Always trying to stir up public awareness, Denneen churned out letters to the editor of every newspaper in the area, expounding on his favorite environmental topics as well as such social issues as overpopulation and birth control.
When protesters picketed Planned Parenthood in Santa Maria, he was frequently leading a counter protest across the street.
“One of the things Bill said to me in the early days of our friendship was, ‘Herb, I make you look moderate so you can get things done. We’re a good team,’” Kandel said.
“The last thing he said to me on Wednesday, and he died the following Monday, was, ‘Carry on.’ There’s a lot of meaning to those words.”
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Mike Hodgson
County Reporter/Associate Editor
Lee Central Coast Newspapers associate editor Mike Hodgson covers Santa Barbara County government and events and issues in Santa Ynez Valley. Follow him on Twitter @MHodgsonSYVNews.
