When Dan Abraham of San Rafael died earlier this year from brain cancer, his friends and neighbors rallied together to request a trail be named after him.
Abraham, who spent more than 20 years pulling French broom and maintaining the Sun Valley Trail in the Sun Valley Open Space area near his home, died Feb. 26 at the age of 89.
An Oregon State College School of Forestry graduate, Abraham retired in 1978 as forest supervisor of the Klamath National Forest in Yreka. After that, he volunteered his time with the Marin County Open Space District until his health began to decline in 2010.
The renaming effort began in April when neighbor Jack Brandon filed an application with the county requesting the name change.
Brandon said Abraham loved the trail and walked it every single day, filling in holes with dirt and keeping an eye on the local wildlife.
“Whenever I walked the trail, he was up there working someplace,” Brandon said. “He was always willing to stop and talk to anyone passing by.”
He said Abraham was a naturalist who always knew where the latest great horned owl nest was and what types of hawks were flying overhead.
Mary Enbom, Abraham’s daughter, said her father was known as the “owl man” for a couple of years as he always knew where the owls were nesting.
“His knowledge of the outdoors was tremendous. He could tell you every single flower and plant,” Enbom said.
His dedication inspired Brandon and others to write letters requesting the Marin County Open Space District Board of Directors change the trail’s name — a change the county Board of Supervisors approved in September. New blue signs with white writing were installed this month on the trail with Abraham’s name.
Former longtime Sun Valley Neighborhood Association President George Mills and his wife Gayle Mills, who helped create the neighborhood association in 1978, said Abraham was a gentle, down-to-earth man who knew the hillside like the back of his hand.
George Mills said he often helped Abraham with his trail tasks.
“He did it without fanfare, he just took care of it and it was a lot of work,” George Mills said.
Gayle Mills said Abraham was extremely knowledgeable and friendly, drawing trail visitors to him. She said he always had a good story to tell.
“For every tool, he had a story about it and how it got its name,” she said.
For a man who had an understated personality, Enbom said her father would likely be a bit embarrassed by all the attention associated with the trail’s renaming — though he might approve of the tiny sign with his name on it.
“He was very humble and a couple relatives and I were laughing because he’d love that his name is very small on the sign,” Enbom said.
For a map of the open space preserve, visit www.marincountyparks.org.
Contact Megan Hansen via email at mhansen@marinij.com or via Twitter at http://twitter.com/hansenmegan. Follow her blog at http://blogs.marinij.com/bureaucratsandbaking.
