Island Icon: Wayne Strickland

By Virginia Ryan, Coronado Historical Association Intern

You probably know retired Coronado Fire Captain Wayne Strickland from the many things he has done for the Coronado community, like his service in the Fire Department and later his work in suicide prevention.

A native Californian, Strickland was born in Red Bluff California in 1945, but two months after his birth moved to Monterrey Park in East Los Angeles. As a young adult, he joined the Navy’s “Kiddie Cruise” Program, which allowed him to enlist before eighteen and get out before twenty-one. During his young adulthood was the Vietnam War draft. During his time, he served on the USS Galveston from 1964 to 1966, alongside the USS Midway off the coast of Vietnam in 1965 and when he got out, he enrolled into San Diego City College for Fire Science.

Strickland had been introduced to the idea of firefighting from his neighbor. He described how his neighbor was always home and was an extremely fun guy to be around, as well as incredibly handy. So in 1967, he joined the Coronado Fire Department, enjoying the strong sense of community and close colleagues he had.

The Coronado Bridge was built two years after he joined the Fire Department, with the original design having no lights, no center divider, or no barrier wall. “In the fire department, you see a lot of bad stuff,” he said in an interview. “But you can make a big difference.” All the time, he saw terrible head-on collisions. First he was able to help get a center divider on the bridge and the strand to prevent head-on collisions. But, he also wanted to stop bridge suicides. Since its debut, more than four hundred fifty people have died by suicide on the bridge. And Strickland has been advocating for bridge suicide prevention since he got out of the Department. Partnering with suicide survivors Steve Bouchard and Bertha Loaiza, his aim is to set up a fence on the bridge, to the city known as a “vertical cantilevered net” to prevent suicides, but Caltrans is slow to build it. Strickland believes Senator Hueso’s bill 656 and that more awareness will help bring Caltrans to complete the project.

His journey to suicide prevention started when he joined the San Diego-Coronado Suicide Prevention Group on Facebook. Strickland recounted how he encountered a man in the group that wanted to take his own life, so he met him at the American Legion in National City and bought lunch for the man. Talking with the man, Strickland realized that all he needed was someone to listen to him and tell him that things will get better.

But when talking about the culture surrounding suicide in Coronado and in wider San Diego, Strickland noted how people don’t want to talk about it. He said, “You know, suicides do happen and you gotta tell people that they’re loved and that you care about them. Forgive people, because holding a grudge is no good. You gotta forgive people. Forgive them for what they do and if they do really wrong they go to jail, and even those people get forgiven.”

Survivors like Steve Bouchard who jumped and Bertha Loaiza (whose mother jumped while holding her when she was three years old) are people that he works with to help spread awareness. Survivors help humanize the subject and make it easier to understand from someone first hand. Strickland helped the both of them film Daniel Kennedy’s award winning documentary film Living Through It, where the survivors give their testimony about the subject.

Outside of suicide prevention, Strickland previously volunteered at the USS Midway, and now volunteers for Sharp Coronado Hospital and with Coronado Rotary Club. Groups he is a part of are the Coronado Rotary Club, Coronado VFW, Coronado Island Beer Club, Imperial Beach American Legion and Chula Vista Elks Lodge. He is a past Commodore of the Coronado Yacht Club and recently became Commodore of the San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs in December 2022.

Anyone who encounters Strickland is lucky to get to know him, from his bright personality to his ability to deeply empathize with others. Coronado is grateful to have him.