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Ex-president of Valley air group dies
Bob Maddux, 64, was the first leader of Clean Air Now campaign.
By Jennifer M. Fitzenberger, The Fresno Bee (Published Thursday, May 29, 2003, 8:06 AM)
Bob Maddux was a businessman with a passion for nature, which he believed brought him closer to God, his wife said Wednesday.
Mr. Maddux loved to fly fish and hunt doves, and late in life he headed Valley Clean Air Now, a nonprofit, industry-driven campaign to educate the public and fund practical solutions for clearing the Valley's air.
"He loved to listen to the water and listen to the trees," said his wife, Linda Little-Maddux.
Mr. Maddux, a land planner with Gary McDonald Homes Inc. in Fresno, died Tuesday after a two-year struggle with leukemia. He was 64.
Mr. Maddux was born in Pinebluff, Ark. His father was in the Army, so Mr. Maddux traveled a lot as a boy. He attended high school in Japan and college in Hawaii, finishing his master's degree at California State University, Chico.
After school, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service, first in its San Francisco office, then in Fresno in the late 1970s as a business administrator.
There, he met his wife, who also worked at the IRS.
They married in 1981. "He was smart," Little-Maddux said. "He was raised to be polite. He was raised with manners."
In the mid-1980s, after 23 years with the IRS, Mr. Maddux left to do financial work for Peoples Church in Fresno, where he and his wife were members. Six years later, Mr. Maddux left the church job and went to work for developer Gary McDonald.
Mr. Maddux also was project manager for Copper River Ranch, a 2,837- home development at the Copper River Country Club golf course on Fresno's northern edge.
He joined Valley CAN in November as its first president.
"He was serious about what he was doing, and we were fortunate to work with him," said Gus Freshwater, now president of Valley CAN.
Paula Farris, a marketing agency senior vice president who has known Mr. Maddux for 10 years, said he was a talented leader.
"He was able to bring diverse groups together," Farris said.
At home, Mr. Maddux painted and wrote poetry about life, fishing and his dog. He wrote poems describing the five days on which his grandchildren were born. Mr. Maddux also loved to read and eat foods ranging from sushi to chili-cheese hot dogs.
Said his wife: "He just loved life, and he wanted to try everything."
Mr. Maddux also is survived by his mother, a brother, five children and five grandchildren. The funeral will be at noon Friday at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Fresno.
The reporter can be reached at jfitzenberger@fresnobee.com or 441-6313.
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