CFBF leader, water expert Bill DuBois dies at 100

Longtime Farm Bureau volunteer and staff member William I. DuBois Sr.—whose remarkable career included two stints on the California Farm Bureau Federation board sandwiched around 30-plus years of service as a CFBF advocate on water issues—died last week at age 100.

CFBF President Paul Wenger described DuBois as an "institution" within Farm Bureau, whose "sharp wit and total recall served him well as one of the most respected water leaders in California for many decades."

Born in Santa Barbara County on Sept. 25, 1916, he moved with his family to an Imperial Valley farm the following year. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 1943; the campus recognized him last year as its oldest living graduate.

During World War II, DuBois served in the Navy, commanding a landing craft infantry ship in the South Pacific. He remained in the naval reserve for 28 years following the war, retiring at the rank of lieutenant commander.

In 1946, he returned to the Imperial Valley, resumed farming and married the former Mary Ellen Burns. He joined Farm Bureau the same year. He and his wife raised four children and farmed about 2,000 acres, primarily of field crops and livestock.

DuBois served on the boards of several cooperatives and business associations in the Imperial Valley, including as president of the Imperial County Farm Bureau. In 1966, he was elected to the CFBF board, serving until 1970, when he joined the organization's staff as its director of natural resources.

During his career on the CFBF staff, DuBois developed a reputation as "a tireless defender of water rights and an advocate for fully developing our state's water resources," according to former CFBF President Bill Pauli, who presented DuBois with the organization's Distinguished Service Award in 2004. Respected for his encyclopedic knowledge of water policy and projects, DuBois served on the CFBF staff until 2000 but continued to serve as a consultant to the organization through 2005.

In an interview with Cal Poly Pomona last year, DuBois said he found it satisfying "being able to really affect quite a bit of the proposed legislation to the benefit of agriculture."

In 2005, 39 years after his first election to the CFBF board, DuBois returned to serve two years representing Imperial and San Diego counties. The Imperial County Farm Bureau presented him with its Jim Kuhn Memorial Farmer of the Year award in 2008.

"Bill always exhibited an exuberance and zest for life, and never allowed his chronological age to define him or limit his daily pursuits," Wenger said. "He will be missed, but never forgotten."

Services are pending.