A Meaningful Life.

Geoffrey Hall Wright, at the age of 31, died peacefully on October 24, 2020, surrounded by loving hearts.  Geoff, a native Californian, knew both Sebastopol and Santa Rosa as home.  He attended Willow Wood Waldorf School, Sonoma Country Day, and Santa Rosa High School.  In his too few years on this earth, Geoff left indelible evidence of his presence.  He excelled in all that he touched: his personal relationships, his profession, his passions.  The world is a better place for his contributions to each of these spheres.  

Geoff was a spirited, athletic, and cheerful child.  He was a happy mischievous toddler, quick with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, who, playing with his older brother Nate, created an energy filled household.  The family participated in aikido together through the years, with Geoff demonstrating a natural ability for the art.  In adolescence Geoff played drums with Nate in the garage and participated in various sports.  In high school Geoff began playing golf with his father, Gene,  a shared sport that had the two of them meeting on different golf courses through the years.  

Academics came easy to Geoff, in part due to his natural intelligence, and in part, because he was unwilling to compromise his studies.  He went to UCLA in 2007 for his undergraduate degree, majoring in Environmental Sciences. He became a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, forming friendships that continued to flourish in post-graduate years.  During his undergraduate years Geoff balanced academics with his ever-expanding love of the outdoors and in the process inspired many to participate with him.  He was athletic, a fitness junkie, a handicap golfer, an above average softball player, and a basketball shooting guard with infinite hustle and a clean corner jump shot.  Competitive, oh yes.  Yet, he always played fair.  He frequently took backpacking trips to Sierra Nevada to explore the woods, commune with nature, and take a break from the artifice and responsibilities of academics and professional responsibilities.   He loved back packing, hiking and camping.  Solo trips were just as likely to occur in the Sierra’s as trips with college friends.  Geoff, or “Jefe” for those who knew him away from the rigors of his legal profession, took immense joy in sharing what he knew about the wonders of nature and how to appreciate and respect its beauty.  Among many trips, that included two thru-hikes of the John Muir Trail, Geoff traversed the rugged Wind River High Route in Wyoming, solo.  Jefe leaves an appreciation for the outdoors in the hearts of many, an appreciation that he credited the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) with solidifying upon the completion of an Alaskan life-changing course.  

Geoff graduated from The George Washington University Law School in 2015.  He was known for being prepared, undaunted by challenging professors, an astute legal mind, yet available for a few laughs, a round of golf ,or a hike.  He was a senior board member of the GW Law Review, winning numerous awards for his oral advocacy and brief.   Jonathan Turley, one of Geoff’s GW law professors, describes Geoff, as “an incredible law student who stood out in the class for his insatiable interest in the law and penetrating legal analysis. Geoff was everything we want in our students: a brilliant lawyer who was driven to do good by others and to leave a legacy of improving the world in which he lived.”

Following law school Geoff was hired by Latham & Watkins in Washington D.C.  as an associate attorney.  He was then selected for one of the most sought after clerkships in the country, on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit with the Honorable Deborah Cook, in Ohio.  When Geoff headed back to the west coast in 2019 after his clerkship, his legal career and professional reputation had grown along with his cadre of friends.  

Returning to California, Geoff was selected to be an Earl Warren Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at the California Department of Justice.  He participated in litigation that often was allocated to more senior attorneys.  He was a member of the team that successfully challenged the termination of the 2017 DACA program, was a lead author of a California Supreme Court brief that led to a published decision, and in another legal matter represented the State before the CA Supreme Court.  Yet despite the prestige of his accomplishments, Geoff was more focused on how the work helped real people.  Upon completion of his Earl Warren Fellowship he was again hired by the Latham & Watkins law firm, as an associate attorney, in San Francisco.  Geoff’s dedication to the public interest continued as did his dedication to advocating for pro bono clients.

His friends would tell you that if you had met Geoff on vacation, you would have seen even more layers: when his type-A energy waned, “Jefe” was serenity personified. On his post-bar trip in 2015 he sailed from Columbia to Panama through the San Blas islands. He was relaxed on the stormy seas: neither sunburn, sand rash, seasickness, nor sangria hangovers would phase him. He would simply sipped coconuts in the shade and swish his toes in the turquoise Caribbean waters. 

In 2020 before the pandemic arrived, Geoff, with his professional future glimmering, fell in love.  Meeting his Amanda was the silver lining in this complicated year. They cooked, danced, hiked, talked, read, wrote, and simply existed together, with a privacy and intimacy that would simply not have been possible prior to the pandemic.  Geoff missed the ability to gather with large groups of friends, dreamed of trips not taken, and felt the absence of the NCAA basketball, yet he relished sweet moments, like those with his one-year-old goddaughter, Margot.  

Geoff is survived by his parents Elizabeth and Gene Wright, to whom he was devoted. Predeceased by his brother Nathan Wright in 2019, he is survived by family in Wisconsin, innumerable friends and colleagues, and his love Amanda. A virtual Celebration of Geoff “Jefe’s” Life is scheduled at 2 p.m. (PST) on Saturday, January 9, 2021. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to NOLS. You may send a check to 284 Lincoln Street, Lander, Wyoming 82520 (please reference “Geoff Wright” with your donation) or online at NOLS.edu (and note that the donation is in honor/memory of Geoff in the appropriate text box). Elizabeth and Gene Wright receive email communication at gwrightcelebration@gmail.com. Log-in information for the Geoff’s Virtual Celebration of Life can be found under the “Celebration” tab on this site.