Joe Bodovitz

Joseph E. Bodovitz (October 29, 1930 – March 9, 2024) was an American journalist and conservationist. He advocated for the preservation of the San Francisco Bay, and later, the preservation of the coast of California, in order to preserve the nature of the Californian coastline. He served in the United States Navy during the Korean War, before going on to become a journalist and later a conservationist.

Life Joseph E. Bodovitz was born on October 29, 1930, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, during the Great Depression. After graduating from Northwestern University, he enlisted in the United States Navy, where he served as a navigator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) during the Korean War. The following year, in 1957, he married Shirley Leon, an elementary teacher from San Leandro, with whom he had three children. He was made executive director of the CCC by his associate, Melvin B. Lane, who was the chair commission for the BCDC, and had been made the director of the CCC by Ronald Reagan, who was the governor of California at the time. Bodovitz and Lane worked to apply the rules and regulations created for the Bay Area by the BCDC, to the California coastline, and was able to have all beaches in California be made public, ensuring that they would be preserved.

In 1979, Bodovitz was made executive director of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), a position he held until 1986. After leaving the CPUC, he became the president of the California Environmental Trust. Bodovitz died in San Francisco on March 9th, 2024, at the age of 93. He is survived by his three children and seven grandchildren.