Bill Koeneker, a reporter for the
Malibu Surfside News for nearly 30 years who covered this community during the historic fight for cityhood in the â80s and early â90s as well as the shaping of a nascent city, died Saturday morning, Dec. 26, after a long illness. He was 71.
âHe was a California surfer without the surfboard,â said his brother Steven, referring to Billâs love of the ocean. âBill enjoyed life and living life to the fullest that he could.â
Their father William said of Bill, âHe was a gentle soul, seldom given to anger and always great with children who adored him and sought him out. Yes, Bill was a little different than most, and that is what made him very special to so manyâespecially me, his dad.â