Dan O’Hara; Activist for Rights of Disabled

Dan O’Hara, 65, a disabled rights activist who traveled Southern California waters and the Mississippi River in a wheelchair-powered boat. Using a wheelchair after he was stabbed by a mugger a quarter-century ago, O’Hara campaigned in Sacramento and Washington for legislation and programs to aid the disabled. Through his O’Hara Foundation, he sponsored an annual Easter egg hunt and a Christmas party for disabled children in Contra Costa County. He was active in the Special Olympics and the Hope League and set up the wilderness Camp Lisa for children. He set a physical example by crossing the country in his wheelchair in 1979 and traveling the 1,400-mile length of the Mississippi in 1986. He also rode his boat across the San Pedro Channel, which separates Santa Catalina Island from the mainland. O’Hara was on the President’s Committee for the Disabled, won the Vatican Humanitarian Award and was honored by former President Jimmy Carter. On Nov. 21 in Walnut Creek, Calif., of pancreatic cancer.