Couple honored for efforts to clean up Newport Bay

Jack and Nancy Skinner’s love affair with Newport Bay began years before their decades-long philanthropic efforts earned them the Citizens of the Year title for 2014.

The two, both originally from Los Angeles, traveled with their families to Newport Beach for summer vacation nearly every year. Jack’s affinity for the water led him to pick up a summer job as a lifeguard.

“I loved swimming in the bay,” he said.

The pair met when a mutual friend introduced them at Little Corona.

“I saw this very pretty girl that I was introduced to, and we started a relationship that has led to our marriage of 60 years,” he said. “The competition for her affection was keen, and I was fortunate to win out. It was quite a fairy tale.”

Years later, after moving to Newport Beach to start Jack’s internal-medicine practice, the couple’s love of the bay sparked their passion for keeping local waters clean.

The Skinners’ environmental activities have earned them several prestigious awards, and now they have another to add to the list.

Jack, 83, and Nancy, 80, were honored Friday during the Citizen of the Year Gala at the Balboa Bay Resort.

“Both of us were extremely surprised and flattered, frankly, that we were considered for such an honor,” Jack said before the event.

Steve Rosansky, president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, said it’s unusual for two people to be selected as citizens of the year. It’s the first time in the 65-year history of the award that a couple has been selected.

“They’re pretty much a package deal,” he said. “They’ve worked closely together on water-quality issues for years.”

The couple’s first foray into water quality came in 1982, when Jack noticed that the bay had turned a muddy brown color — opposite of the crisp blue waters he had remembered as a boy.

Jack took a sample of the water back to his office and placed it under a microscope for closer inspection. The sample showed organisms that caused algae to infest the bay.

“The samples indicated that the bay was being contaminated by nitrate fertilizers,” he said.

Nurseries in the area were putting fertilizer on their plants and then allowing the excess to run off into drains and ultimately reach Newport Bay, he said.

The Skinners were instrumental in getting government agencies to regulate the runoff.

“We have continued to work at efforts to not only improve bay water quality, but educate the public on the importance of not discharging waste and other contaminants into the bay,” he said. “It’s been very satisfying to see bay quality improve over the years.”