Ronald Kaye Dunton

Ron Dunton was a charismatic Santa Cruz resident with a boundless appetite for adventure. So vivid and mesmerizing were Ron's abilities as a sailor, hunter, and wilderness man that his grandchildren without irony called him "Ronbo." He lived in Santa Cruz since 1961, when he began a career as a trial lawyer specializing in medical law at the firm Lucas, Wycoff & Miller. He was a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom, and won a vast majority of his cases. He held a law degree from UC Berkeley, but credited his cross-examination skills to training received in the Army's Central Intelligence Corps. Ahead of being posted to Japan during the Korean War, Dunton studied at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. There, he met remarkable fellow outdoorsmen who shared his love for Northern California, and who throughout his life remained his dearest friends. Dunton learned to hunt and sail in his native New England. Age nine, he terrified his mother when he ran away to camp out alone for days before his father discovered him trying to build a fire in the rain on the Appalachian Trail. At Dartmouth College he deepened his love of nature and English literature; he rowed varsity crew, worked as a ski monitor, and played trombone in a jazz sextet, The Sultans. Dunton treasured his college memories of performing with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie in New York, and of touring internationally with his beloved college band-mates after their graduations in '54. During the '60s, Dunton became familiar to many in Santa Cruz as an avid sailor and cyclist. On clear nights he could often be found partying by a bonfire on the beach near the Crow's Nest, or making gin fizzes with his pal Jack O'Neill on the roof of Jack's surf shop. With laser-sharp attention to architectural detail, he designed his home on a crest in the redwoods above Granite Creek Road. He welcomed friends to gatherings replete with live music, passionate conversation, and thrilling reports of recently explored peaks, trails, and waters. He took pride in serving his guests delicious wild boar, chanterelles, or mussels that he had hunted or gathered nearby. In 1970 Dunton moved to Bogotá, Colombia with his wife Libby, and their two young children, to work in the Peace Corps. As Regional Program Director for Latin America, he led initiatives to advance agriculture and access to clean water, and to address humanitarian crises following events including the Great Peruvian earthquake. In classic Ronbo fashion, while living in the Andes he also persuaded a matador to give him bullfighting lessons. Back in Santa Cruz in 1972, Dunton founded Heartscan, a low-cost mobile medical checkup service since recognized to have been well ahead of its time. His next venture, The Whitney Program, helped thousands in and beyond the US to adopt more wholesome habits. Further projects followed, each related to science and health. For some five decades, Dunton pursued his dreams and sought out new horizons with his second wife Terry. In warm seasons, they lived on a boat they built to explore islands of the Pacific Northwest. In winter, they spent long periods in remote canyons and deserts. And when the spirit moved them, they set out on motorcycles to relish backroads far and near. In the past year, they took Dunton's son, daughter-in-law, and nine-year-old granddaughter, on horseback high into the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming to camp and fish. The couple's last journey in the hereunder was in April, to visit Petra and the Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan, and to sail the Nile in Egypt. Dunton died on July 19 in Santa Cruz. He was 83. Ron Dunton is survived by his wife, Terry; a daughter, Leslie, and son, John; and his grandchildren Jordan and Naira.