Noteworthy Bay Area locals who died in 2017

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee died Dec. 12. After getting his start as a housing activist, he rose to become the city's first Chinese American mayor. The Bay Area's tech boom indelibly marked his seven-year tenure in office, for better or worse, and he was known for his goofy sense of humor and his low-key personality.

Read the full obituary here. less San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee died Dec. 12. After getting his start as a housing activist, he rose to become the city's first Chinese American mayor. The Bay Area's tech boom indelibly marked his seven-year tenure ... more Photo: Stephen Lam, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Stephen Lam, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 64 Caption Close Noteworthy Bay Area locals who died in 2017 1 / 64 Back to Gallery

They were policymakers, artists and activists; locals who either spoke their mind or quietly led through example and created waves in the Bay Area and beyond.

2017 saw the loss of a number of locals who were renowned to their colleagues, family and friends and made an impact on the world in their own way.

FINAL GOODBYE: Roll call of some who died in 2017

A number of notable politicians passed away, including March Fong Eu, California's first female secretary of state, and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee who died earlier this month. There were architects who left their imprint on Bay Area cities, such as John Field, who helped shape suburban shopping malls, and professors who became experts in their field, such as Stanford professor Maryam Mirzakhani.

The world of the arts also lost a number of greats who helped raise up the art scene, including musician Ralph Carney and John Knoop, who co-founded the Film Arts Foundation. Great local outdoorsmen passed, like Jack O'Neill, who invented the wetsuit and founded the O'Neill surf brand, and Royal Robbins, the clean climbing mountaineer who founded the outdoors clothing brand under his name.

To know the backgrounds of some of the more prolific and noteworthy locals of the Bay Area is to know history. Here are some of those we lost in 2017.