Obituaries : Wesley L. Bliss; Anthropologist, Geologist

Wesley L. Bliss, a renowned academic and 45-year Ojai resident, died Saturday. He was 91.

Born on a farm in Greeley, Colo., Bliss attended college in the same city, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in geography. In the 1930s, Bliss worked on several paleontological and archeological sites around the western hemisphere, including a stint at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, a paleontological survey of Mexico, and an exploration of the Bering Straits in search of evidence of early man’s crossing into the Americas.

Bliss graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1936 with a master’s degree in anthropology. It was at the university that he met his future wife, Shirley. They married in 1938.

In 1942, Bliss traveled to Pittsburgh to help locate the remains of Fort Pitt, which had been buried under city streets. The site was later turned into a park.

During World War II, he worked for the government as a cryptanalyst in Washington, D.C. Then he went to Lincoln, Neb., to perform an archeological survey of the western plains for the Smithsonian Institution.

Bliss completed a doctorate in anthropology and geology at the University of Arizona in 1952, just before moving to Ojai. He taught at several Ventura County high schools and accepted a teaching position at Cal State Northridge in 1963. He retired in 1972.

In his free time, Bliss liked to paint with oils, and nearly a dozen paintings adorn his home.

“He had a very rich and interesting life,” Shirley Bliss said. “I feel privileged to have been a part of it. We made a good team.”

In addition to his wife, Bliss is survived by sons Michael of Simi Valley and David of Guam, and daughter Loa Bliss-Gilbert of Boston.