Obituary By Ruth Abbe, NCRA President, 1996-1999
Visions Require Overtime, Usually Unpaid [1]
Arthur Robinson Boone III was born on March 17, 1938 and died on October 14, 2024 after a short illness. He was 86.
Arthur, ARB or Robin (to his old friends) was an innovator, visionary, and somewhat of a crank. A member of the Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) since 1984, he served as Board President, Secretary, and Chair of both the Education Committee Chair and Zero Waste Advocacy Committee.
He is best known for his work in recycling research and education. He developed the curriculum and taught NCRA’s Introduction to Recycling Class for over 20 years. He created the innovative format of NCRA’s Recycling Update annual conference, known as “speed dating for recyclers” (nobody speaks for more than 10 minutes).
Robin went to Princeton (Class of 1960 Cum Laude in English), Brown University and Union Theological Seminary. He always posted his diplomas above the sink in the kitchen, as dishwashing keeps you humble. He was an Episcopal priest and parish minister, a civil rights program director, and a recycling program manager and policy advocate.
Arthur Boone’s a2017 NRC Lifetime Achievement Award Acceptance Speech and nomination!
He formed both the Oakland Recycling Association in 1984 (which operated recycling centers in North Oakland and West Oakland) and the Total Recycling Association in 1994 (which dismantled mattresses – a first!).
He continued his research and writing through the Center of Recycling Research and Total Recycling Associates. But his passion project became trees. When the City of Oakland cut its urban forest program in 2009, Robin secured grants from the Sierra Club and CalFire and led the volunteer team to plant over 2,000 trees by 2018. These Oakland street trees were planted in curbstrip spaces cut out of the concrete, watered by volunteers, and will be his living legacy.
In one of his annual letters to family and friends Robin wrote about his long to-do list of self-assigned projects and said: When I’m gone, the regular people will say I took things too seriously, working too hard. My friends will say, “No, he liked to go that way, full speed ahead wherever he could.”
He is survived by his four children, Ella Webster, William Boone, Isabelle Boone George, and Phoebe Boone Green and two grandchildren. He was predeceased by his former spouse Mary Catherine Hoag and his life partner Natalie Peterson.
In Robin’s honor, go out and plant a tree. Donations can also be made to Trees for Oakland.
A memorial service will be held at Robin’s home church, Saint Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Oakland (where he also served twice as interim minister), on Saturday, December 14 at 11am. Contact the office if you would like to be invited.
[1] Attributed by Robin to Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman, circa 2007