Bill DuBois Sr.
William Irvin DuBois Sr. (25 September 1916 – 7 April 2017) was an American farmer, philanthropist, centenarian, Navy lieutenant commander (ret.) and a state lobbyist. At the time of his death, DuBois was one of the oldest living persons in the Imperial Valley and one of the most successful water rights lobbyists in California. Early life DuBois was born on September 25, 1916, in Orcutt, California to John Lamont DuBois and Isabelle Oakley. John L. DuBois emigrated from Tennessee in 1906 to work as an oil engineer. In 1913, he met Oakley, who worked as a school teacher for the children of oil field workers. Like DuBois, she was the oldest child of a Tennessee family. Agriculture career The DuBois family moved to El Centro, CA in 1918 when Isabelle's father, William Calvin Oakley, purchased 240 acres of sand dunes land. After cultivating the dunes to arable land, the family spent the 1920s growing citrus, raising hogs, and operating a dairy. The whole family initially lived in a raised canvas tent under a cottonwood tree, without electricity or running water. Later, a WWI surplus generator provided the family with electricity for the first time. Education DuBois attended grade school at