Jean Blois, Goleta Councilmember and Mayor, Dies at 96

A Member of the Council and Twice Mayor of the New City

Jean Blois, a member of the new City of Goleta’s first City Council, died on March 22 at the age of 96. She was a leader from the start, serving as president of Delta Zeta in her senior year at Cal and going on to help found Blois Construction with her husband, Bob Blois, who died in 2004.

She served on Goleta’s council in 2002, one of four women on that first council, and was twice the city’s mayor during her tenure, which ended in 2008. Mayor Paula Perotte recalled Blois as a legend and a longtime resident of the city: “I appreciate all she did as a part of that intrepid new Council to help this new city face and overcome many challenges that come with being a ‘startup.’”

Blois often referred to the knowledge she gained from being in business when it came to the issues before the city and had an understanding of the difficulties small businesses faced. She was a founding director of Community West Bank and won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the South Coast Chamber of Commerce in 2022.

She retired to Maravilla in her last years, her family said, where she continued an active community role, co-chairing the Residents Association and organizing duplicate bridge games. She died peacefully at home, her family said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to Jean Blois as a “founding mother” of Goleta. That refers to the women who worked successfully toward cityhood as part of GoletaNow! Blois had stumped for cityhood in the early 1990s, as in the photo above, but was not a member of GoletaNow!