A memorial for Jan Vandersloot, a prominent Orange County environmental activist who died suddenly last month, will be held Sunday at Castaways Park in Newport Beach.

The public is welcome to the memorial, which begins at 1 p.m. Dec. 6 and is expected to last about two hours; a private memorial open only to family members will follow. The park is on Dover Drive near 16th Street.

Vandersloot, 64, died of what might have been a massive heart attack Nov. 4 at his home in Newport Beach.

He was a major figure on the Orange County environmental scene as well as a practicing dermatologist, with a full roster of patients.

Shortly after moving to Newport Beach, he co-founded the Bolsa Chica Land Trust in 1992 — an environmental group heavily involved in an ultimately successful effort to preserve the Bolsa Chica wetlands.

In 2000, he helped create the Ocean Outfall Group, which conducted a vigorous campaign to push the Orange County Sanitation District to raise the level of treatment for sewage emptied into the ocean, also ultimately successful.

And he had a soft spot for nature — especially roses and birds.

Vandersloot is survived by his son, Jon, his daughter, Tiffany, and his wife, Cheryl.

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