Herbert Dengler, a gentle advocate for nature, says "Kindness" has been a guide for him, throughout his life, whether it means being kind to animals or humans. He has played an important part in the development of Stanford's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, the Peninsula Open Space Trust, and the Conservation Committee in Portola Valley where he now lives. For 75 years, he has been visiting Jasper Ridge . At age 5, Herb started going there on hunting trips with his dad and brother. By the time he was 13, he was building a log cabin there with some friends. As an adult, he was asked to lead the first docent training tours for five volunteers in 1975, and today he still takes groups of people to visit the Ridge explaining the geology and the amazing variety of ecological systems in this relatively small area. Alan Grundmann, Administrative Director of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, says that Herb has a "reverence for nature and a boyish enthusiasm that it is infectious. People find him an inspiration, and he has generated a large following, based not only on his knowledge but also on his personality." Herb also became known to legions of Peninsulans through his antiquarian interests. In the 1960's he became partners with several other book lovers, who received books from the great libraries of estates in England, as well as prints and painting. He learned how to repair and restore all of these, which he sold from a shop in Town and Country. Herb taught at Stanford for 12 years as a lecturer in the Program for Human Biology. After college, Herb taught biology at an all-boys school in the Santa Cruz Mountains for several years. When asked about his most lasting accomplishments, Herb replies that they are the trails he cut through Jasper Ridge and Portola Valley Ranch areas. One of the Jasper Ridge trails bears his name.
Rixford Snyder
Rixford Snyder, a notable administrator at Stanford University, considers his greatest achievement to be helping young people to be all that they can be. He and his wife Elliott have their "extended family"-a acadre of people whom they have befriended through the years and who now live all over the world. He was Director of Admissions at the time when Stanford was beginning to expand from being a good western college into a university of national stature. Through his selection of excellent young people he contributed to the vision of greatness of such presidents as Wallace Sterling and Richard Lyman. Later as a director of the Travel/ Study Program, he made many new friends for himself and for Stanford. Rix grew up in a San Jose neighborhood. He has formed memories of his childhood, which he has written about for 150 younger relatives and friends who wnated to know what the Santa Clara Valley was like before they were born. He was the first in his family to go to college. His bachelor's degree at Stanford was in economics. His Ph.D. was in history with a specialization in the British Empire, which led to his early Stanford years as a professor of history. After retirement, his volunteer career began: he has served on the boards of Menlo School and College, the Rotary Club, the Senior Coordinating Council, the Stanford Historical Society, and the Rail Museum in Sacramento. Rix, at eighty-three, says that his strong spiritual beliefs have kept him young in mind and spirit. He and Elliot live in Palo Alto.
John Gardner
John Gardner, author, public servant, educator, and the founder of Common Cause, advises those who are approaching retirement age and beyond to be interested, curious, and out-reaching. He says, "Keep moving both physically and intellectually, doing something that engages the mind, heart, and physical energies, but at the same time," he says, "you ust be a careful guardian of your energies." He says that as one ages there is the advantage of having seen an enormous range of changes that can broaden one's perspectives. Some people get wiser as they get older; they use their perspective to deepen their understanding. Others do not get wise with age; they let fixed ideas become more deeply fixed. He believes that the 50's and 60's are great learning years and that learning can continue through the 70's and 80's. Gardner's remarkable career has alternated between action and reflection. He has served as President of Carnegie Corporation, Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Chair of the Urban Coalition, founder and Chair of Common Cause , co-founder and Chair of Independent Sector, and one of the founders of the new Experience Corps. Despite this crowded schedule, he managed tow write seven books. Founding Common Cause stemmed from his belief that government needs to be held accountable through its citizens. "Because large donors to campaigns have enormous influence in Congress, citizens need to be active and effective in monitoring elected and appointed officials," he said. Gardner was born in Los Angeles. He graduated from Stanford with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and from the University of California, Berkeley with a Ph. D. in Psychology. Now, at 79, Gardner is the Miriam and Peter Haas Centennial Professor of Public Service at Stanford, teaching organizational renewal and leadership and doing research in the area of the community. He and his wife, Aida, live on the Stanford campus. Their family of two daughters and four grandchildren are a source of immense pride to him.
Betty Kendrick
Betty Kendrick is an exemplary volunteer. She is among five generations of volunteers in her family. As a senior at 77, Betty says that she doesn't feel any different now than when she was younger but that perhaps her age allows her to pick and choose her activities more carefully. Her volunteer efforts have centered around children, history, and nature. Among the organizations in which she has played leadership roles are the Junior League of Palo Alto, three auxiliaries of the Children's Hospital, the Woodside Atherton Garden Club, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Nature Conservancy, The Foundation for the Preservation of San Francisco's Architectural Heritage, and the Stanford Athletic Board. For her four children and nine grandchildren, Betty is a role model. Betty in turn, cites her grandmother, Clara Lyon Hayes, as a major influence in her life. Mrs.Hayes was the first woman to serve as foreman of a grand jury in the Unites States. Betty had her first volunteer experience as a teenager at the Children's Convalescent Home, (later, Children's Hospital at Stanford), where she would serve on the Board for twenty years. Betty considers her greatest achievement to be her family, since she and her late husband, Marron, thought for some times that they would be unable to hae children. She now lives in Atherton. When asked what advice she would give to those younger than she, Betty said that keeping an open mind is paramount. Because of all her leadership experiences as a volunteer, she suggests that one not try to lead right off the bat, but let leadership skills develop slowly and realize that tines are changing. Not long ago, her grandson, who was applying at Stanford, asked Betty if the family had any Stanford connections. She counted 47.
Margarita Espinosa
Margarita Espinosa is a champion and consistent role model for women's education. At sixty-five, she found that she could still climb mountains; at seventy-five, she realized that there were limits to what one could do. At eighty-six, Espinosa now says that one doesn't stop living, even if one can't climb mountains. Having made a major contribution to the education of girls during her many years at Castilleja School, she now keeps abreast of activities here, even doing a table setting for a yearly fundraiser. She is also writing the history of the Children's Hospital at Stanford, including the preparations for the new Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital. Her tenure at Castilleja began as a part-time teacher of Spanish in 1928. She continued as a full time teacher and then became director of the Lower School. After Miss Lockey, then became director of the Lower School. After Miss Lockey, the principal, died Margarita succeeded her, serving in that position for the next 30 years. She lived at Castilleja while she was principal and remains proud of the fine faculty she was able to attract. They had excellent qualifications and were able to develop their potential under her tutelage. Espinosa most enjoyed the contact with the students. She did most of the general counseling and all the college counseling at Castilleja. She knew each student and family well, and many of those are her closest friends today. Margarita sees teaching as a matter if dedication; teaching is a gift and a commitment. Espinosa was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She can trace her ancestors to 1598 when they came to settle the pueblo of Santa Fe. When she was four, her family moved to Palo Alto where her father became the head of the Spanish Department at Stanford. Margarita graduated from Castilleja at 16, and since her parents thought she was too young to go to college, her mother took the four children to Europe for more than a year. Margarita attended Stanford for her bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in Spanish and English. Upon retirement from Castilleja, Margarita was ready for a new experience and spent two years in the Peace Corps in Korea, where she taught English to the young women at Ewha University in Seoul. She is a board member of Recordings for the Blind and the Peninsula Center for the Blind. She has been active in the Delta Gamma Sorority alumnae organization and the Ballet Guild and continues her membership in statewide educational organizations. Climbing mountains or not, Margarita Espinosa carries on with a zest for life that is infectious.
Jinny Reinhardt
Jinny Reinhardt is an ardent supporter of the arts. As a spry, energetic, and charming woman of seventy four, she says, "It's surprising. I never feel old." When she couldn't continue to play tennis three times a week, she just substituted other interesting activities: reading, spectator sports and volunteerism. She has always been committed to support the arts-art, music, and dance. She graduated from Mills College with bachelor and master's degrees in mosaic and sculpture. She feels there is no better way to learn about subject than to teach it. Her teaching experiences have included making art appealing to Boy Scouts by working with cement as an art form, teaching art to seniors at Little House, and docenting at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Jinny's life bears witness to the difference that dedicated volunteers can make to the community. Notable among her causes are Stanford organizations supporting the arts: the Committee for Art, Music Guild, and Friends of Dance. Many other community and educational organizations such as the Junior League of Palo Alto, the Children's Health Council, Peninsula Center for the Blind, Peninsula Volunteers, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and Mills College also benefited from her energy and skills. When asked what advice she would giver to younger people, Jinny replied with fervor that it would be 'to volunteer'- becoming so interested in others that you don't become absorbed in yourself. Jinny lives in Palo Alto with her husband, Paul, a physician retired from the Palo Alto Medical Clinic. They have lived in Palo Alto for more than 45 years. They have four children and five grandchildren.