Karl Holmberg sends in a new Mail Bag item about Richard McNish who acquired Errol Flynn’s Cheerio II and owned it for 45 years. His life story is written up in his obit from his passing aged 98 November 20, 2025, Oxnard, California.
Posted online on November 24, 2025
Published in Ventura County Star:
Richard Dickson McNish, age 98, passed away peacefully on Thursday morning, November 20, 2025, under hospice care at the home of his partner, Flo Beck, in Oxnard, California. His passing came swiftly—just two weeks prior, he had been living his usual active life.
Born on May 7, 1927, in Santa Barbara, Richard was the son of Edward and Louise McNish. After his parents’ divorce, he was raised by his maternal grandfather Lynne, a Scottish mining engineer and former foreman of the San Julian Ranch. During Richard’s youth, his grandfather operated a service station in Santa Barbara. Under his grandfather’s guidance, Richard learned to ride horses and participated in Western equitation competitions.
In 1944, at the age of 17, Richard enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific during the final stages of World War II and the subsequent occupation of Japan. After the war, he attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on the GI Bill. While there, he became Student Herdsman and lived in the Parker Barn. In 1949, he supervised the feeding of a short-horned steer that went on to win Grand Champion at the Cow Palace. His college summers were filled with adventure—one year following the rodeo circuit and another caring for cattle near San Simeon.
In 1953, Richard married Juanita DeRoye. Together they had two children, Jeff and Leslie. Their marriage lasted until Juanita’s passing in 2008.
Richard’s professional journey took him from agricultural work to real estate development during Southern California’s post-war boom. In the mid-1950s, he began selling memberships for the Southern California Homebuilders’ Association. His role expanded to organizing meetings focused on condominium development—a novel concept at the time—and brought him into contact with many facets of regional construction.
He often recounted a pivotal lesson from this period: how raw land could be transformed into valuable property through thoughtful planning and mapping—a principle that guided much of his later work.
By the early 1960s, Richard had become vice president of Merit Homes under George Chacksfield. In 1965, at age 38, he launched his own development projects: a 31-home tract in Lynwood and a 39-home tract in Lakewood. The projects faced challenges—particularly due to civil unrest near Lynwood—but Richard remained committed to integrity. “I paid off the investors and I paid off the bank,” he said. “Eventually we sold the houses—it just took longer.”
In 1968, Richard moved with his family from Gardena to Somis in Ventura County. He joined Boise Cascade following its acquisition of Ray Watt’s real estate operations. There he directed major infrastructure projects including canal development for Channel Islands Harbor and negotiations for a bridge on Channel Islands Boulevard.
By 1972, Richard returned to independent development with a 125-home tract on Wooley Road in Oxnard and another project in Ventura. In 1979, he negotiated to acquire farmland from the Maxwell and Connelly ranches off Gonzales Road—land that would become River Ridge. This ambitious project involved a joint venture with both the City of Oxnard and Ventura County to build a golf course spanning farmland and a county landfill. River Ridge became his most successful endeavor—both financially rewarding and professionally fulfilling.
Beyond real estate, Richard was passionate about sailing. He bought his first boat—a 1929 Dragon—in 1964 from George Chacksfield for $1,000. Over time he owned several vessels including a 26-foot Excalibur sloop and a modified H-28 ketch before acquiring Cheerio II in 1980—a 46-foot yawl that remained with him for 45 years.
A founding member of Pacific Corinthian Yacht Club (PCYC), Richard organized its first Classic Yacht Race in 1978—a wooden boat race around a 17-mile course designed to highlight traditional designs. The event was later renamed in his honor as the McNish Classic Yacht Race and has been held annually for forty-seven years with only one interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Richard’s sailing adventures were extensive: racing Cheerio II twice in San Francisco’s Master Mariners Regatta; exploring the Pacific Northwest including Desolation Sound and Princess Louisa Inlet; voyaging down to Baja California; and crewing aboard Alcyone—his daughter Leslie’s 65-foot schooner—across both the South Pacific and Atlantic Ocean.
Richard McNish is remembered with love by his partner Flo Beck; his children Jeff and Leslie; and his grandchildren Alyce, Darby, Ramona, Nora, and Peter.
A memorial will be held at Pacific Corinthian Yacht Club at a date to be determined.
May his memory bring comfort to those who knew him and inspiration to those who sail forward in his wake.
Thanks, Karl!
— David DeWitt
