Dr. Jack Lee Bath

1/4/1940 - 8/10/2022 Jack L. Bath was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 4, 1940. The 2nd son of a beautician (Elizabeth I. Bath), and a credentialed CPA, who retired a Union Construction Supervisor (Darrell A. Bath). His future would be heavily influenced by his swashbuckling grandfather, the legendary, entomologist, biologist, ornithologist, and ecologist of the South Pacific, James Franklin Illingworth. Like his grandfather and older brother, James E. Bath, he earned his BS in Entomology via UC Davis and his MS at Cornell University. His PhD was earned at UC-Riverside in Entomology in 1974, but, genetic perfectionism prevented publication of his extensive research thesis on the revision of a Bee-Fly genus. He retired Professor Emeritus from Cal Poly Pomona having taught anatomy & biology into his 70s. He spoke four languages well. Learned to read & write Mandarin in his 60s to further enrich his Buddhist core. He did not own a television, concern himself with appearances nor societal conventions. Jack passed quietly at his primary residence in Chino, CA, on August 10, 2022 at age 82 with his two Chihuahuas close at hand. After a private ceremony, his ashes will be placed beneath a favorite Desert Museum tree at his Morongo home. He was a tireless voice in defense of wildlife habitats and its vulnerable inhabitants (primarily, the Burrowing Owl and California Gnatcatcher) who were so easily silenced by the powerfully ignorant. The past few years Jack spent more and more retirement time in Morongo Valley/Joshua tree executing his true passion in bird spotting while regularly sharing his entertaining & educational experiences with ecological audiences young/old at the nearby Big Morongo preserve and Whittier Narrows NC. His greatest philanthropic accomplishment was revitalization of the historic Whittier Narrows Nature Center, with the help of so many, during the 17 year effort. Jack Bath was a fearless naturalist who seeded a perch from which his spirit can continue to flourish for eons to come.