Darwin E. Sainz (2/15/1935 – 3/14/2011)
Awarded Outstanding Young Man of America in 1965, Darwin was born in Santa Maria to Edward and Frances Sainz. He was an 8th generation Californian and lived on the Las Flores Ranch just west of Los Alamos. He attended Santa Maria High School and graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, in 1957 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Mathematics. He married Jeanette Tognazzi in 1956. They had two children: Denise and Charlie.
Darwin worked for Unocal for 35 years, finishing as their senior engineer and governmental affairs supervisor for the North American Oil and Gas Division in the Santa Maria District, Orcutt, CA. His accomplishments go on: He was a Trustee for the Allan Hancock College District from 1985 and President starting in 1993, Marian Medical Center Trustee for six years, spent 1964 to 1982 on the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, 13 years on the Los Alamos Elementary School District with the last 5 years as President, Fund Raising Chairman and President of the United Way of the Central Coast for 10 years. He became a member of the Marian Medical Center Foundation in in 1986 and joined the Board of Trustees in 1987. In 1992 Darwin was awarded Citizen of the Year for the Santa Maria Valley.
Darwin played the accordion and was an avid outdoorsman hunting and fishing in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Along with others from Los Alamos (Carl Cooper, Robert Ferrero, Bill Luton (Sr. and Jr.), Al Monighetti and Roy Smith), Darwin was a member of the Vaqueros de los Ranchos.
Darwin is buried with the Tognazzi family on the south side of the Los Alamos Cemetery.
Awarded Outstanding Young Man of America in 1965, Darwin was born in Santa Maria to Edward and Frances Sainz. He was an 8th generation Californian and lived on the Las Flores Ranch just west of Los Alamos. He attended Santa Maria High School and graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, in 1957 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Mathematics. He married Jeanette Tognazzi in 1956. They had two children: Denise and Charlie.
Darwin played the accordion and was an avid outdoorsman hunting and fishing in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Along with others from Los Alamos (Carl Cooper, Robert Ferrero, Bill Luton (Sr. and Jr.), Al Monighetti and Roy Smith), Darwin was a member of the Vaqueros de los Ranchos.