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David B. Nadal ’77

January 20, 2019, in Portland, from heart failure.

As president of his sophomore class at Portland’s Wilson High School, David organized the signature gathering that put the Oregon Scenic Waterways bill on the ballot. Two years later, he opened and ran the Citizens Advancing McCarthy’s Policies (CAMP) office in Portland to support the presidential campaign of Senator Eugene McCarthy. He attended college at New York University, Reed College, and then Lewis & Clark College, where he had a double major in biology and history. 

Never pursuing a traditional career, David primarily supported himself as a legal wordsmith at large law firms in Los Angeles and Portland. This allowed him to spend nearly six months each year on his five-acre paradise in Halfway, Oregon, as well as time in Salem researching environmental law and lobbying the state legislature on mining regulations and other environmental concerns.

Dave developed type 2 diabetes and six years ago was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, which severely restricted his activity. But he continued to research both environmental and historical topics and loved freewheeling intellectual discussion. At the time of his death, he was corresponding with the city about the potential environmental impact of a proposed second OHSU tram. 

A devoted uncle, brother, and friend, Dave had a menagerie that included chameleons, finches, and some really cute rats. He is survived by his two sisters, Katy Nadal and Barbara Kuehner, and his two brothers, Joe and Tom Nadal.

Appeared in Reed magazine: September 2019

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