PASSAGES: ROB DEASON, RETIRED TEACHER

By Miriam Raftery

January 3, 2024  (Jamul)—Rob Deason, a retired teacher in the San Diego Unified School District and husband of Deerhorn Valley Antler publisher Kim Hamilton, died last night after a long illness and several months in home hospice care.

Originally from  Los Angeles, Deason studied liberal arts at California Western University.  A talented woodworker, he also studied woodworking and electronics at San Diego Sate University California. He married Hamilton in 1987.

His articles and photos on backcountry life appeared in the Deerhorn Valley Antler.

After losing their barn in the Harris wildfire in 2007, Deason built a new art and music studio, Casa Calibri, that has doubled as meeting space for the Deerhorn Valley Community Association and a pickup site for CSA farm boxes.  "Rob loved having people just stop by a stay a while. Lots of good community vibes,"  Hamilton told  ECM.

He is survived by the couple’s son.David, daughter, Jennifer, and grandchildren.

Hamilton posted on Facebook after his passing, “His daughter Jenny and I were with him when he took his last breath. Son Dave was outside with the dogs, and grandsons Flynn and Ian had just left to go home minutes before... So we were all together yesterday. We knew the time was very close.... He died in the place he loved best: our Deerhorn Valley home.”