About Kiewit Foundation
The John S. Kiewit Memorial Foundation was established in 2000 by Ralph and Oralee Kiewit, of Malibu, California, in memory of their son John S. Kiewit, who died that year.
Purpose
The Foundation’s primary purpose is to make grants “to protect the land and other natural resources of the California Central Coast and or neighboring regions of California from the effect of development, by means such as purchase, conservation easements, education or other methods, in order to preserve the open and agriculture character of the priceless assets.”
Ralph and Oralee Kiewit framed this statement of purpose as a memorial to their son John, who was born in 1948 and moved to Malibu on the coast northwest of Los Angeles as a boy in 1955 where he developed a love for surfing. That love led him later to discover the surfing and unspoiled beauty of the Gaviota Coast in southwestern Santa Barbara County.
Mission
The Foundation interprets its mission of protecting natural resources and environmental education in the “California Central Coast and or neighboring regions” as roughly the Coast and Transverse Ranges, from Malibu north through the southern San Joaquin Valley, Carrizo Plain, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties as well as the Northern Channel Islands.
History
Ralph W. Kiewit Jr. was born in Nebraska in 1921 where is family created one of the country’s most eminent construction companies. He moved to southern California as a boy in 1931 where he became part of the Malibu surfing culture and lifeguard in the 1930s and 40s. Ralph later started his own construction company, building Southern California landmarks, including the Union Bank building in Sherman Oaks and the Shorecliff Towers in Santa Monica, as well as the San Souci in Waikiki and Hotel Bora Bora in French Polynesia. During World War II, he served in the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel, seeding a passion for flying that carried through his life. Kiewit spent time flying his own jet until he retired as a pilot when he was 87 years old. He died in 2013. Ralph married Oralee Abrams in 1947 and their only child, John, was born in 1948. Oralee was a fine artist, in the plein air tradition, focusing on the southern California coast, inland hills and deserts.
The John S. Kiewit Memorial Foundation
Ralph and Oralee became earlier supporters of the Arroyo Hondo Preserve which was established on the Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County in 2001, shortly after their Foundation began operation.
The Foundation has continued solid financial support for the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, a project of The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County. In keeping with the primary purpose, the Foundation also supports other land trusts and conservation organization such as the California Rangeland Trust, the Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy, Hollister Ranch tidepool education program for elementary school students, the Carrizo Plain Conservancy and many others.
The Foundation interprets its mission of protecting natural resources and environmental education in the “California Central Coast and or neighboring regions” as roughly the Coast and Transverse Ranges, from Malibu the southern San Joaquin Valley, Carrizo Plain, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties as well as the Northern Channel Islands.