David Nesmith

Aug. 11, 1944 - April 26, 2025

Remembering David Earl “Chicken” “River” Nesmith Aug.11, 1944 - March 26, 2025 A champion for San Francisco Bay and California’s rivers passed away recently, ending decades of dedicated activism balanced by time playing and mentoring others on the rivers of the Western U.S. David Nesmith was born Aug. 11, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois to Claire Nesmith and Gladys Mae McAllister. The son and grandson of Methodist ministers, David was a charismatic leader and comm unity builder dedicated to social justice, the environment, mentoring young people, and engaging people with nature. He passed away March 26, 2025 in Oakland, CA after a week of visits and messages of love and appreciation from many of the thousands of people whose lives he touched. In high school and college, he followed in his father’s footsteps against nuclear arms and for civil rights. As a high school junior, he was thrown out of social studies class for his opinions. As a college junior in 1964, he organized a statewide conference for California Methodist Students. It focused on racial justice, and it was called “No Hiding Place. In 1965, he and his father registered voters in Mississippi, experiencing harrowing encounters with the Ku Klux Klan. “Chicken” studied Animal Science with a concentration in Poultry Management at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. His mission was to provide food for the world, “one bird at a time”. When David was drafted in his senior year of college, he became the first in Santa Barbara County to attain conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War. He trained in the Peace Corps (to raise chickens) and ended up serving with International Voluntary Services (IVS), of USAID. IVS sent him to Vietnam where he provided chickens and taught poultry care in the midst of the Vietnam war, which earned him the nickname ‘Chicken.’ He returned home with a new wife, Carlie, and son Christopher. Once home, they did peace work through the Methodist Church. After their second child, Ilona, was born in 1970, they lived in a commune in Brooklyn, NY. In 1972, the commune purchased a home in the East Bay and land in the Sierras. David was the Conservation Director of the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club for 17 years, where he fought to protect the health of the Bay, particularly its wetlands, which were threatened by development. He served as the political director of Save the Bay, leading a successful effort to prevent the expansion of San Francisco airport two miles into the Bay. Later he helped found the Environmental Water Caucus, a coalition of 30 groups advocating for California water policies that led to sustainable water use and ecosystem restoration. He also served on the board of Restore the Delta. During the 1980s, David learned that the East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) had plans to divert a substantial amount of the natural flow of the American River near Sacramento and deliver that water directly to East Bay cities. David organized and led an effort of California environmental groups that persuaded the East Bay Municipal Utility District EBMUD Board of Directors to abandon its plans and instead allow this water to flow down the American River for environmental and recreational benefits. He was also a leader in the effort to stop EBMUD from building a new dam on the popular Electra whitewater run on the Mokelumne River. He played a key role in persuading the EBMUD board to abandon the dam and support the designation of this stretch of the Mokelumne River as a protected California Wild and Scenic River. David’s strengths as a witty environmental strategist and his talents to win trust and negotiate played a key role in these historic victories. David was recognized for his environmental work and impact with several awards: The Sierra Club Mary Ferguson Award, the Mark Dubois Award from Friends of the River, and the Environmental Champion award from the East Bay League of Conservation Voters. In the 1970s, with his friend Walter Kieser, David discovered whitewater rafting. He delighted in introducing people to the joys of wilderness travel and river running. He was a fixture in the Friends of the River whitewater training program. He also led ocean kayak trips for people challenging cancer with Healing Adventures, and was a rafting guide and mentor for urban youth through the Sierra Club’s ICO program (now Inspiring Connections Outdoors) In all of these programs, he served as an instructor and mentor for hundreds of river guides. David housed and maintained a coop of river gear – the “Queen Mary Coop,” named after an ancient raft– with a number of friends, operating it like a lending library. His motto was to return gear in better shape than he found it. On the river, he was serious about safety - and also about having fun and letting loose. Chicken also played a critical role developing Bishop O’Dowd High School’s Living Lab, a nationally recognized model for environmental education, cofounded by his partner, Annie Prutzman. It is an ecological restoration project powered by students on a former quarry site. The Living Lab includes multiple outdoor classrooms, an environmental studies center, native ecosystems, food gardens, chickens, and bunnies. He helped lead weekly field trips, international research trips, and camping adventures for O’Dowd students. While David’s spiritual life as a young person was based in the Methodist church, for most of his life his spiritual source was from rivers, especially the Green River in Utah. He called it his Goddess, and named his little Toyota Pickup Truck “Bodhisattva” because it was a being who lived in service of his sacred relationship with the river. Sometimes he would go on solo spiritual quests on the Green, which involved 7-10 days fasting and ended after facing the challenging Cataract Canyon. He received his spiritual name, River, on one of these quests. David suffered a massive stroke in 2012. His family and community rallied around him to help him adjust to a new life, half paralyzed. He continued to revel in making personal connections with virtually everyone he met - asking about family and remembering the life happenings of his friends, and learning the names and stories of care staff, restaurant workers, people on the bus. His humor, intelligence, and love of dogs remained intact. David took his final trip on his “goddess”, the Green River with friends and family in 2015. David was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Joy Bol. He is survived by his partner Annie Prutzman, son Christopher Nesmith (Sylvia), daughter Ilona Clark (Nathan). He is also survived by his brother Ed Nesmith (Kathy); half-brothers Jonny (Kia), Ben and Matt; grandchildren Brandon Nesmith, Brittani Fung (Albert), Nicolette Nesmith, Evan Clark and River Clark ; two great grandchildren; nephews Christopher York, Joshua Bol, and Jeremy Nesmith; niece Jennifer York and Cara Dahl; and, so many others in the “Nesmith family bramble,” including former wife Mary Duryee (Libby); daughter Kristin Kinnamon (Kristi); former wife Carlie Numi, and his river family, Walter Kieser and so many other dear friends. David lived lightly in this world, existing happily on a small non-profit sized salary, occasionally splurging only on river gear to support the trips he took so many people on. His friends and family set up a Go Fund Me to help cover his final days of medical care and a public memorial service. His memorial celebration is planned for September or October. To read more about him, please see CaringBridge Chicken David Nesmith.