Obituary

1. Keith Dinsmoor was born in 1938 in Pasadena, California and lived 85 eventful years.

His childhood in Altadena was full of freedom that led to outdoor adventures and enduring friendships with people all the way through college and beyond.  Keith graduated from Muir High School in Pasadena and went to Stanford University and then on to UC Berkely for law school.

Heading down to Newport Beach during the heat of his younger summers lead to one of the true loves of his life…sailing.  He spent so much time on Catalina island, was very active with the Balboa Yacht club and over the years had many different boats, starting from the very small and moving up to ones where family could travel together.

Keith met his loyal, life partner Marina at a singles function at the Balboa Yacht Club titled “Losers & Rejects.”  They were married for 58 years, together for over 60 years and had a daughter and son.

Always very patriotic, Keith served as a Jag officer in the Navy, as a reservist and also in the Coast Guard auxiliary.  He often used naval quotes and famous sayings and one of his favorites was from a Union admiral in the civil war who said, “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”  This was the spirit in which Keith lived life.

In 1985, Keith made the decision to move the family from Orange County California to the small town of Calistoga in the Napa Valley wine country. He bought 4 acres of land and a 50+ year old house with the plan to run a bed & breakfast.  It was hard work, but they built a successful family business and became active members in the smaller, tight-knit community.

Keith had the dream of moving to Maui and this became the next adventure when he found a property in Kihei that could be turned into a bed & breakfast. Before you know it, he and Marina moved their business to Maui.

While living in Maui, Keith was very active in the Lahaina Yacht club and even helped spearhead a revival in the junior sailing program there.  After many summers of teaching sailing, and producing some competitive racers, he was honored to have the primary junior sailing competition and trophy there named in his honor.  He crossed the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii twice in his sailboats, even sharing this adventure with his son Alex once.

Keith lived with Marina in Maui for almost 30 years, with some shorter stints back in California to be closer to the children and grandchildren, but was able to return to his favorite place for the last 6 months.  He was a loving husband, father, grandpa and leaves quite a legacy.

Damn the torpedoes Keith, full speed ahead…