William Clark Callahan
April 2, 1954-December 6, 2019
Resident of Watsonville
Bill Callahan, long-time resident of Santa Cruz and recent resident of Watsonville, died peacefully on December 6, 2019 at the age of 65, due to congestive heart and lung failure. He was surrounded by his wife (Anne), daughter (Julia), and his brothers and sisters, and in the comfort of music by the Grateful Dead, Leon Russell, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan.
Bill traveled through his life cultivating great loves. He was born in Seattle, WA in 1954, the fourth child of Norman Earl Callahan and Celeste (Cissy) Glasgow Clark Callahan (both deceased). He ended up in the middle of a rambunctious pack of eight children. He had a loving relationship with his siblings and their spouses: Nathan (deceased), Cheryl Hubner (Tony), Patrick (Tricia), Mary, Daniel (Crystal), Colleen McDonough (Larry), and Michael (Jacquie). From Seattle, the Callahans moved to Kansas City, MO and finally settled in Los Angeles, CA, where Bill attended St. Mary Magdalene Elementary School and Daniel Murphy High School, graduating in 1972. High school taught Bill the power of great friendships and Los Angeles taught him his street smarts and planted the seed of his love of the ocean.
In 1972, he left Los Angeles to attend the University of San Francisco where he met the greatest love of his life, Anne, in a dormitory known as "Feelin'" (Phelan) Hall. Together they explored 1970's San Francisco and it became a refuge for them their entire lives. As a sophomore, Bill decided that his true academic interest was ocean science. He transferred to Humboldt State University in 1974 and received his B.S. in Oceanography in 1977. At Humboldt, he, with a group of friends, settled in a small community called Big Lagoon, where the redwoods meet the ocean. They rented small beach houses (his was appropriately called the "dirty bird") and lived the communal life while attending the university. Getting to class often required hitchhiking in the pounding rain to get to Arcata, 60 miles away. In 1977, Bill returned to California's central coast area to settle down with his long-term girlfriend (still Anne) marrying her on June 18, 1977. Seeking a place to live that reflected the ethos of Humboldt County and the politics of Berkeley, they settled on Santa Cruz.
Bill's love of the ocean showed up in multiple stacked careers during his life, always reminding his friends that you need two or more jobs to afford to live in Santa Cruz. He began his career at American Shellfish Corporation in Moss Landing. There he ran a live-seafood market and farmed oysters in Elkhorn Slough, at Tomales Bay Oyster Farm in Marin County and in San Francisco Bay. In the early 1980s, the State of California opened up tidal leases in Tomales Bay for aquaculture projects. Bill had always dreamed of starting his own oyster farming operation. He applied for and obtained a lease and proceeded to write a business plan that created his first business, Intertidal Aquafarms, Inc. In 1983, Bill discovered love had even greater depths when his daughter Julia was born. He developed his business plan during the first 18 months of her life and was able to stay home with her and play Mr. Mom, a role he bragged about incessantly. His favorite experience was attending infant massage with Julia; he was the only man in a group of moms and this made him quite popular. He was an immeasurably proud father and his daughter was his constant partner in antics.
Intertidal Aquafarms, Inc was incorporated in 1985 and and Bill embarked on a 15-year career that involved him living and farming in Tomales Bay four days a week and delivering oysters on his way back to Santa Cruz and his family three days a week. Growing his own oysters from seed, Bill next became active in creating and selling at various Farmers' Markets (Santa Cruz, Cabrillo, and Los Gatos) where he met many friends and where his persona of Bill The Oyster Man had its start. Shucking oysters and jiving, Bill attracted fans who shared their lives and stories with him.
By the mid-1990's, Bill became concerned about environmental impacts on Tomales Bay as well as the cost of his absence from home for so many days a week. He returned to school at San Jose State University Education Department and received a secondary teaching credential in biology and chemistry and acquired a new love--teaching. He was hired by Watsonville High School in 1996. He taught biology and chemistry there for 23 years and retired very recently, in June 2019. Bill was a proud Wildcat and found the students at that school to be exceptional in their abilities to balance the challenges of home and academic life. He was among the founding faculty of the Business and Technology Academy (BATA). He created a catfish farm and hydroponics program for his students to learn to be farmers and entrepreneurs.
While teaching, Bill's business evolved into a catering operation. He attended festivals, served at wineries, private parties, and many fund-raising benefits for non-profit organizations (Capitola Art and Wine, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Dominican Hospital Foundation). He balanced teaching and partying for many years. His moniker "Bill the Oysterman" spread widely with the advertising mantra chanted on KZSC Bushwackers' Breakfast Club every Friday morning.
Teaching and catering honed another love of Bill's--he was a natural storyteller. He had a way of embellishing stories that became legendary. He stood as a mentor and confidante to his one niece, fifteen nephews, and three great-nephews and to numerous students, employees, and friends. He relished being the center of social connections. Sitting on his stool by the oyster bar or in the center of our homes, Bill held court. He attracted others to himself because he was honest and kind, insightful and caring. He loved his life, his family and his friends and he wanted you to love your life as well. He was a man to be shared with all and he gave of himself freely, with a big and boundless heart and a set of shoulders that could help others bear their trials and hardships. Whether you called him Billy, Bill, Bill the Oysterman, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Chills, or Chilly-Willy it was hard not to love him. His physical presence will be missed but his stories and spirit will live on in all whose lives he touched and made better.
The family wishes to thank Dominican Hospital ICU doctors and nurses for their loving, hands-on care of Bill in his last days and, in particular, Dr. Raj Singh, who kept Bill alive for us for many years. A celebration of Bill's life is being planned for April, his birth month. Details will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Watsonville High School Bill The Oysterman scholarship fund, for students who are "pluggers"—who persevere toward academic excellence. Please send donations to: Watsonville High School, 250 East Beach Street, Watsonville, CA 95076.

View the online memorial for William Clark Callahan