William Nelson Jenkins

1928 - 2017

William Nelson 'Bill' Jenkins July 27, 1928 - May 1, 2017 Tiburon, CA - Bill Jenkins, son of Emma Ruth Nelson Jenkins and William Marcellus Jenkins, was born in San Diego. He attended McKinley Elementary and Roosevelt Junior High and graduated from Hoover High School at age 17. He attended Harvard University, was a proud member of the Hasty Pudding Club, and earned an A.B. in Philosophy in 1949. Bill spent the year after his graduation in San Francisco where he continued reading the great philosophers. He served in the U.S. Army for two years and was discharged as a Sergeant after being stationed in Germany at Camp Wildflecken. Bill returned to Harvard for law school. His team won the prestigious Ames Moot Court Competition, and he graduated in 1955. He joined the law firm of Lord Day & Lord in New York where he met Janet Elizabeth Kopf. Bill and Janet were married in 1960, had four children and were together until 1979. They moved to San Diego in 1961 where he joined Alan Perry at the law firm Hamilton & Perry, which became Jenkins & Perry, practiced securities law, and taught classes at Cal Western Law School. Bill had a lifelong love of the sea and spent as much time as possible on the water aboard his 27' sloop, Bruja. He cruised with his family around the Channel Islands and the coast of Baja and Southern California, and in 1977 from San Diego to the Hawaiian Islands. A Life Member of the San Diego Yacht Club, he served as Junior Program Advisor in the 1980s. He hired the first full-time Junior Program Director and spearheaded the first national junior sailing program symposium, which continues as part of the US Sailing Association. Bill enjoyed music, singing joyfully in a rich tenor. He joined the board of the San Diego Symphony, and as President from 1974-1976 he guided the organization through uncertain financial times and a musicians' strike. He later served on the board of the San Diego Opera. Bill married Renée Friedkin Lane on Nantucket Island in 1986. They lived in San Diego until Bill retired from the practice of law and they embarked on a two-year cruise aboard their 45' sloop, MOTU. Their journey took them through the Panama Canal and up the Eastern Seaboard, joined by family along the way. After time living in Jacksonville, Florida, they returned to California, moving to San Francisco in 2001 near four of their eight children. They attended the opera and symphony and remained very social until Renée passed away in 2009. Bill moved to a lovely location in Tiburon, California, in 2016 and died peacefully on May 1. Bill is survived by his son, David William Jenkins (Nicole Tor) of San Diego, his daughter Jamie Jenkins Schein (Peter Schein) of Menlo Park, his daughter Jaclyn Elizabeth Donovan (John Donovan) of Mill Valley, his son Charles Albert Jenkins (Marnie Buddo) of San Diego, and his grandchildren Anna Elizabeth Schein, Tristan Curry Jenkins, Stephanie Emma Schein, Rachel Bridget Jenkins, Maksim William Jenkins, Graham Albert Artiom Donovan, and Rowan Elizabeth Donovan. The family suggests donations to the San Diego Symphony, the San Diego Yacht Club Sailing Foundation and the SPCA. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.