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In memory of

John Julius Lewallen

Philo, CA

November 14, 1942 - November 1, 2019

Nov 14, 1942 - Nov 1, 2019

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John Julius Lewallen, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and Mendocino County community member, died on the morning of November 1, 2019 in Petaluma, in his daughter Rebecca Kagin’s garden cottage in the warm care of his wife, Barbara Stephens-Lewallen. Born November 14, 1942, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Grace and Walter Lewallen, John spent his youth in Brisbane, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Juneau, Alaska, graduating from Juneau-Douglas High in 1960, an Eagle Scout with high marks. Young John loved hunting, fishing and exploring the wilderness. John received a full ride to Whitman College, graduating in 1964 with a Political Science degree and spent the following year in India on a Fulbright Fellowship as an English tutor at the University of Jaipur, before beginning at Stanford Law - again with a merit based scholarship. John dropped out of Stanford in 1967, heading to Vietnam as a volunteer with the International Voluntary Service, providing humanitarian aid to Motognards relocated from “free-fire” zones to the coast in South Vietnam. John returned a peace activist, an environmentalist, and a hippie, writing a war memoir, Land of Frozen Laughter, published in 2016.
In 1970, John married Eleanor Sara Leventhal, a teaching student, and the pair settled in Berkeley after a honeymoon that took them around the globe. In 1972, John’s book, Ecology of Devastation: Indochinacame out, exposing the impact of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese countryside.In the same year, John organized a Convention on Ecocidal War, in Stockholm, Sweden.
In 1974, Rebecca Grace Lewallen was born, and in 1978, the family relocated to Northspur, from where John and Eleanor published their newspaper, the North Country Star. For decades, John and Eleanor were well-known activists in the homebirth, anti-war, anti-nuclear, ocean protection, sustainable forestry, indigenous peoples’ rights and Green Party movements. In 1980, Shanti Shalom Lewallen was born at home in Boonville and the Lewallens established the Mendocino Sea Vegetable Company, harvesting, drying and marketing wild edible seaweed as a family business. In 1985, Loren Siegel Lewallen was born in Navarro, and the family relocated to Comptche in 1991. In 1994 John ran for the Green Party nomination in the California Gubernatorial race. In 2001, Eleanor passed away after 5-year battle with cancer. In 2001, John published High Altitude Nuclear War, opposing nuclear brinksmanship in space.
In 2005, John married Barbara Stephens. Barbara collaborated with John in seaweed and activism, parenting, grand-parenting and all other aspects of life. Their activism expanded into advocating for fishing and seaweed wildcrafting rights and worldwide nuclear de-escalation. In 2012, John ran for US Congress as an Independent, advocating peace conversion and wise use of natural resources. In 2018, John and Barbara traveled to The United Nations to host a nuclear nonproliferation summit.
John delighted in writing, the wilds, living off the land, nonviolent resistance, personalities, transcendence, literature, surviving, shamanism, family and Barbara. John was a man who unrelentingly lived by his convictions, an independent spirit who believed in the power of human choice to create our own happiness and destinies. John lived by his own principles, and inspired everyone around him to do the same. His beautiful, dynamic, and unique presence and deep wisdom will be missed by all who knew and loved him. John is survived by his wife, Barbara; children and children in law, Rebecca and Jeremiah, Shanti and Leah, and Loren and Katherine; grandchildren, Analise, Walter, Natalia, Eleanor, Opal and Ezra; stepson, Jonathan; brother and sister in law, Roy and Beth, and family; and his community of friends and loved ones across the globe. Family will be hosting a celebration of life at 10 a.m. on December 7, at the Anderson Valley Grange. Friends and family are welcome and encouraged to bring a favorite dish to share, a good pair of shoes for a hike, and a biodegradable offering.

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