Crabb giving up most of his law work to have fun

By Kathryn Reed

Retirement is not a place Dennis Crabb wants to rush to. Instead, the long-time municipal attorney is easing into it.

In June he will have given up all his lawyerly responsibilities except for attorney for Truckee and Happy Homestead Cemetery District.

Dennis Crabb

He is phasing out his job as counsel for Sutter Creek, Clean Tahoe, Tahoe Resource Conservation District, and Tahoe Transportation District. A request for proposal for an attorney for TTD will go out May 14.

Crabb is also wrapping up work for his private clients.

The 62-year-old moved to South Lake Tahoe in 1978 after spending the first five years out of law school as a deputy city attorney in Monterey. He was city attorney for South Lake Tahoe from 1979-95.

“I’ve been trying to cutback for the last two years,” Crabb said. “No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get below 30 hours a week. You get to the point in your career where you’ve been doing this long enough that it’s time to go have some fun.”

He and his wife, Pat, are ready to explore the world some more. She retired from the South Lake Tahoe branch of the El Dorado County Library two years ago. In September they will be spending three weeks in China.

“We have a whole list of things on the bucket list we both want to do,” Crabb said.

Now they split their time between South Lake Tahoe and Reno. Their home in the Del Webb community makes winters more tolerable. There they have joined the symphony and museum. Pilates and Zumba are regular activities.

“I don’t see ever leaving Tahoe permanently. The community has been very good to me,” Crabb said. “I love a lot of things about it. It would be hard to not be there.”

He along with a handful of other people was instrumental in forming the Tahoe Tallac Association. Crabb was on the board for 20 years, serving as president twice.

He also served a term as president of the former South Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce.

Crabb was attorney for South Tahoe when redevelopment was in its infancy – when the Ski Run Boulevard parcel was in bankruptcy and Heavenly Village was initially being talked about.

“I’m proud when I drive around South Lake Tahoe and recognize a lot of good things in South Lake Tahoe that would not have happened without all of my battle scars,” Crabb said.

He calls Truckee, where he has been the town attorney since 1994 when it incorporated, a special place with a philosophy that reflects that uniqueness.

Crabb has also been an integral player in the Sierra Business Council, though not in recent years. He credits SBC for instilling in other agencies the belief that “the environment and economics in the Sierra are not mutually exclusive, they are the same thing.”

He likes looking around and seeing that philosophy taking root throughout the Sierra.

Crabb expects to be fully retired in two years.

“What I have discovered is the people who successfully retire are the ones who transition into it. They gradually work less and gradually fill their time with other activities so when the move finally comes there is no gap,” Crabb said. “I’ve been blessed. I’ve had opportunities beyond my wildest imagination.”