Timothy J. Rinker

Timothy James Rinker died of cancer on December 12, 2024. Born on February 10, 1966, he was 58 years old. He had resided in Santa Cruz since 1991.

 Timothy graduated from Village Christian High School as Class Valedictorian. He studied film production at the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California. He studied graphic design and information technology at Cabrillo College in Aptos. 

 He was self-employed as a cinematographer, film editor and artist / graphic designer. 

 His dedication to community service included working on Hemp legalization efforts and volunteering with Food Not Bombs, SC Community Television, Men’s Division International (MDI), Freedom Friends SC and the Idea Fab Lab. 

 He studied healthy eating habits with live-food advocates, and the teachings of physicist Nassim Haramein and ethnobiologist & mystic Terence McKenna. For 20 years he was an active member of a Brazilian church based on Catholicism, spiritism, animism and shamanism. 

 Timothy is preceded in death by his beloved feline companion of 17 years, CB, who passed away in summer 2024.

 He is survived by a sister Kim Kenney, three half-brothers Nick, Marty and Chris Koulax, his mother Ruth Rinker (nee Milke), his adoptive stepfather Winfield Rinker, and his birth father Nick Koulax.