Bill Best
March 26, 1943 – April 8, 2015
Resident of Capitola
Bill Best spent his near idyllic childhood living on a Pueblo Indian Reservation exploring the canyons and mesas of New Mexico. Later his family moved to El Paso, Texas where Bill completed high school and attended college on scholarships, ultimately earning a Master's Degree from the University of Denver. He was selected as Outstanding Senior Man of both his high school and college undergraduate classes and was a leader in student politics.
After stints in the Navy and as Assistant Student Union Director at the University of Texas at El Paso, Bill did doctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin. He then moved to California. Discovering he had a talent for drawing and a radar bent for activism, Bill began drawing cartoons of social and political satire. He eventually became the cartoonist for a weekly newspaper in Santa Cruz.
Needing more stable employment, however, Bill began working with the Santa Cruz County Probation Department. Speaking fluent Spanish, he enjoyed working with the youth of both South and North County. He started several long standing programs to enhance morale in the department and spearheaded holiday gift giving drives and fund raisers for kids and families living in poverty in the County. During this time, he also joined Behind the Times Theater, serving on the board of directors, acting, designing fliers and writing a successful Who Dunnit. This company gave several performances at Juvenile Hall and throughout the county in convalescent hospitals, mobile home parks and retirement communities. Bill retired from the Probation Department as a supervisor in the Juvenile Division. He is most gratified that he helped turn young lives around.
As a lifelong activist and veteran of many demonstrations, Bill counts two of these as important experiences in his life. He was arrested and incarcerated for protesting against the nuclear power plant at Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo and the plant remained closed until its design flaws were corrected. He was arrested again in Livermore for protesting the deployment of the MX Missile in Europe. The MX Missile was never deployed in Europe as a result of these protests.
Bill married Karen Katz and though the marriage dissolved after 12 years, they both agreed that having their two boys was the best thing that they ever did. Bill began journaling the lives of Gabe and Noah while they were in utero and never stopped.
Though Bill had cancer and was profoundly hard of hearing, his retirement years were some of the most gratifying of his life. He raised several thousand dollars for AIDS community work and completed the AIDS Bicycle Ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles when he was 60 years old. He loved teaching for four years at the Jail Farm in Watsonville. He volunteered at the Santa Cruz Literacy Program teaching English as a foreign language and at the Watsonville Wetlands Watch as a docent where friends dedicated a bench in his name.
Bill published a book of 400 of his cartoons and inspired by this, he began cartooning again after a 35 year hiatus. He continued a lifelong habit of donations to more than 50 charitable causes. He edited a newsletter for the nonprofit, Adopt a Village in Guatemala, and was a major financial contributor. He improved his racquetball game 100%. A lover of language, Bill was a great reader and played tournament Scrabble. He enjoyed very satisfying friendships, and was an enthusiastic Bay Area sport fan. All of this between many cancer related surgeries, chemo therapy, radiation, clinical trials and alternative treatments. While he was in Hospice care, he completed a brief autobiography and completed his second cartoon book.
Best of all, Bill loved watching his sons grow up to be fine young men with very strong values. Bill leaves behind his two boys, Noah and Gabe, his devoted brother, John, dear friends and loved ones.
A celebration of his life will be held at Oakwood Memorial Chapel, 3301 Paul Sweet Rd., Santa Cruz on Saturday, July 11, 2015 at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers please make any donations to the Bill Best Fund at the Watsonville Wetlands Watch.
If you would like to send your condolences to Bill's family, share a memory or photo, or light a candle please visit www.scmemorial.com