Michael Straus

"As someone said, he really had three loves in his life: love of agriculture, love of our mother and family and love of this place," his son Michael Straus of San Francisco said.

A native of Hamburg, Germany, Straus joined friends in the Zionist youth movement to study agriculture in what is now the Czech Republic and in the Netherlands.He moved to Palestine in 1936 to escape the Nazi invasion.

But his Middle East stay was brief.

The turning point came with a telegram from family members in San Luis Obispo, where his mother had been raised before her family returned to Germany.His Central Coast relatives wrote of oil prospects on their land.

While the family never drilled a successful well, Straus fell in love with California and stayed to attend UC Berkeley.He graduated with an agricultural science degree.

After working a series of dairy jobs in Pleasanton and Marin County, Straus sought to establish a dairy of his own.He purchased 160 acres in Marshall, the northwest Marin County hamlet on the shore of Tomales Bay.

Straus started with 23 Jersey cows he named after family and friends.The last cow was named after an aunt who objected, ending the tradition.
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In 1950, Straus expanded his dairy with the purchase of a neighboring 500 acres.By then the couple had 270 milk cows.

They followed environmentally sound land use practices, a commitment that led to the establishment of two conservation organizations.

"The ethic is being stewards of the land, taking care of the land for future generations," Michael Straus said.

Straus co-founded the Tomales Bay Association to bring together farmers and environmentalists.
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In addition to his son Michael, Straus is survived by another son, Albert Straus of Marshall, and two daughters, Vivien Straus of Los Angeles and Miriam Berkowitz of Salt Point, N.Y.