Bob Wycoff - Teacher

Bob Wycoff, a lifelong educator, Navy veteran and award-winning gardener and chef, died Monday after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 80.

Wycoff and his identical twin, Bill, were two of eight children born to Gladys and Paul Wycoff of Pawnee Rock, Kan. The family lived in a 600-square-foot home without indoor plumbing, said Wycoff's son, Craig, an assistant principal at Maria Carrillo High School.

“My grandma was the type of person who was very optimistic,” he said. “My dad carried that one too. He was always a very positive person.”

After graduation from high school, Wycoff headed west.

“In 1947, the war was just over and they were looking for adventure and Kansas wasn't the place,” said Wycoff's son, Keith Wycoff of Palo Alto.

Wycoff and his brother enlisted in the Navy in 1951 and, for the first time in their lives, were separated. The same year he joined the Navy, Wycoff married Dorothy Polson.

After four years in the service, the brothers reunited and made their home in Southern California, studying at Compton Community College and later California State University at Long Beach for both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

In 1964, Wycoff headed to Santa Rosa, bought an acre of land on the west side and got a job teaching business classes at Santa Rosa High School.

When Piner High opened two years later, Wycoff moved there and stayed until his retirement in 1992.

He taught business, typing, accounting and shorthand and served as department chairman while also coordinating the work experience program and serving as adviser for the Future Business Leaders of America club.

“Whenever we were around town and for many years after he was retired, we would be stopped, ‘Oh, Mr. Wycoff, you were my teacher in 1973 and here are my grandkids.' That sort of thing,” said Keith Wycoff.

For a short stretch, Bob and Craig Wycoff worked side by side at Piner.

“We had an opportunity to teach together for three years,” he said. “It's your dad — you always want to get some assistance and help. It was good.”

Wycoff was a master craftsman and a renaissance man with his hands, his sons said. He won best in show and blue ribbons for his homegrown vegetables and baked goods at the annual Harvest Fair. He also built the three-bedroom home he lived in for 50 years.

An avid reader, Wycoff would devour four books a week, Craig Wycoff said.

As a young father, he would read to his boys every night and by day would encourage them to learn the ins and outs of gardening.

“He was a very loving dad, very attentive to his kids,” Keith Wycoff said. “He was probably more involved than the typical dad in that era.”

In addition to his sons and wife, Wycoff is survived by five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church, 1551 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa.

Donation in Wycoff's name may be made to the United Methodist Foundation of Santa Rosa.