Marin Women's Hall of Fame

 
INIECE MONROE BAILEY
Community Service
1989

   A former educator, Iniece Bailey was a selfless and tireless worker for many causes.  A passionate activist for social and civil rights, she was co-founder of Operation Give a Damn, Inc., a Marin City based program, established in 1969, to  assist young people at risk.

     Ms. Bailey was also co-founder of the Marin County and Mill Valley Human Rights Commissions. While serving on the boards of the ACLU, CORE, Adult Criminal Justice Commission, and the San Quentin Task Force, she furthered her efforts to end injustice by sensitizing others to its presence.  She was a founding member and ordained Elder of the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City.

     Steadfastly committed to children, she was a mother of four and a long-time foster parent.  She served as the Marin County Coordinator for the United Nations Year of the Child, and has the distinction of being the first African-American PTA President of Tamalpais High School.  She was also an early board member of Project Care for Children.  

     Ms. Bailey began her second career with the Department of Public Social Services as an Eligibility Worker. She then became a Supervisor for a unit of para-professional Social Work Assistants.  Ultimately, she became the Department's liaison to the County Head Start providers.

     At the time of her death, she had been diligently working to pioneer an affordable child care center for infants and toddlers from low income families.  The Sausalito based Iniece Bailey Infant and Toddler Center was established in her honor.

Read the extended biography by Nancy Nakai

  JOAN LINN BEKINS
Community Service
2010

Introduction: In January 1964, the San Francisco Chronicle named Joan Linn as one of thirty-five business people chosen as “Bay Area Leaders Who Made Their Mark in 1963.” After a long professional public relations, sales promotion, and advertising career representing agricultural industries, Joan married Don Bekins in 1964 at age 34. With their infant in a packpack and leading their toddler by the hand, Joan started walking with Elizabeth Terwilliger in 1967.

     For many, Joan Linn Bekins’ name is synonymous with that of Elizabeth Terwilliger. Joan was the energetic volunteer who was the “woman behind the woman.” She publicized and nominated Mrs. T for numerous awards (including President Reagan’s volunteer award) to direct public attention to Mrs. T’s important work with children. In 1970, she launched the Terwilliger Nature Guides to help Mrs. T lead school field trips, the non-profit Elizabeth Terwilliger Nature Education Foundation in 1975, and theTerwilliger Guild in 1984.

    While education chairwoman for Marin Audubon Society’s Board of Directors in 1972, Joan obtained corporate funding to produce and distribute three habitat films featuring Mrs. T showcasing her renowned teaching methods. Joan produced two more award-winning films in 1976 and 1978. She now distributes free DVDs nationally through the non-profit Terwilliger Nature Education Legacy, founded in 2004 by Mrs. T’s children. This effort represents Joan’s 38 year volunteer dedication to this film project. To date, seventy million children have met Mrs. T via film in classrooms throughout the United States!

     In 1979, Joan was successful in obtaining Buck Trust funding for the fledging ETNEF organization. This enabled the volunteers to have an office in Tiburon and hire staff, but the effort was still volunteer-driven with expanded recruitment and training programs for new Terwilliger Nature Guides. NatureVans, filled with taxidermied birds and mammals, traveled to schools in eleven Bay Area counties.

    Joan edited and published books, naturalists’ site guides, and records for children and adults to reach new audiences. Talented as a volunteer publicist, photographer, grant writer, and fundraiser, she also collaborated closely with the Marin County Superintendent of Schools, environmental and conservation groups.

     Joan emphasizes, “I could not have achieved this without the support and talents of other women - - many with young children - - who also contributed their time and enthusiasm to enrich childrenʼs lives with an understanding and appreciation of Nature. I am, today, blessed with their friendship, of both Terwilliger Nature Guides and the women of the Terwilliger Guild. We shared a very special camaraderie. We had a passion and Mrs. T was our inspiration.”

     Joan inspired volunteers, and for some was a role-model; she was recognized in 1980 as Marin’s “Volunteer Activist of the Year.” She offered women opportunities to explore video production, event planning, library research, archives, newsletter writing, production, graphic art, schoolyard ecology, early education, senior and special needs programs, that provided hands-on experience. For some, these became their career choices. By 1995, the Guides had led tens-of-thousands of children on school field trips and the Guild had raised over $100,000.

     When the Terwilliger office was in her home from 1975 through 1979, Joan provided women reentering the job force an opportunity to gain real world business experience through a CITA-funded program. The women did clerical work, helped with direct mail campaigns, and filled mail orders for an assortment of educational Terwilliger materials Joan produced, “Sights & Sounds of the Seasons,” “Mrs. Tʼs Coloring Book,” a record album from the sound track of the films, a song book, and “A Naturalistʼs Guide to Richardson Bay Sanctuary.
Joan inspired other women to join her to help Mrs. T lead school field trips, and was the first volunteer president of the Terwilliger Nature Guides after spearheading the group’s formation in 1970. Joan actively recruited docents each year and developed a well respected training course for them to learn about plants, marine life, birds, insects, etc. that empowered women to feel comfortable about teaching groups of children, their teachers, and accompanying parents on walks. Many women, like Joan, had careers before having a family and brought their expertise to the programs. Joan encouraged volunteers to spread their wings and schoolyard ecology, early education, senior and special needs programs evolved.

     When it was apparent that some schools could not fund chartered buses for field trips, Joan and other Nature Guides launched the first Terwilliger Nature Van in 1981. Habitat scenes were painted on the outside and children learned food chain concepts by placing magnetic creatures in the habitats. Inside were taxidermied creatures for multi-sensory, interactive experiences. This effort helped the non-profit to expand the numbers of children served annually from 6,000 to 65,000, when two additional vans were put on the road to cover eleven Bay Area counties.

     Joan found that there were many women who believed in educating children about nature, although they were not interested in becoming Guides. To leverage their talents, in 1984, Joan formed an auxiliary, the Terwilliger Guild, that staged “Fandango” fundraising events to help support school programs and again offered opportunities for women to develop new skills and friendships.

     Her dedicated commitment to nature education has had a positive effect on the lives of children throughout Marin, and the nation, as well. An advocate for open space, she chaired an ad hoc committee in 1999 to fund and reinstate the Marin County Open Space district naturalist-interpreter position.

    The films are still in high demand. Joan mails VHS and DVDs free to school librarians throughout the United States on behalf of the non-profit Terwilliger Nature Education Legacy. This significant program for young children is nationally applauded for awakening a curiosity and appreciation of nature and the natural world. It is also part of the curriculum in some universities to demonstrate effective teaching methods.

    She is an award-winning nature photographer, and since 2000, when she turned 70 years old, she has had numerous Bay Area solo exhibitions of her work that benefit non-profits. She also writes a newspaper column, “Wildflower Watch,” illustrated by her photographs.

     Other recognition: Chevron Texaco “Conservation Award” 2002; CINE Golden Eagle Award, Washington, D.C. 1973; John Muir Award National Education Film Festival, 1974; elected Fellow in the Explorer’s Club, 1986; represented the U.S. in the International Wildlife Symposium, member of the Consultative Committee, 1984-1988.

     Joan’s special moments: “Sharing what I learned from Mrs. T with my two children, and now with my grandchildren.”

ROSARIO CARR-CASANOVA, Ph.D.
Community Service
1999

    Dr. Rosario Carr-Casanova's every move is focused on the empowerment of women and the improvement of their status.  Throughout her dual careers as an accomplished psychotherapist and a professor, Dr. Carr-Casanova has demonstrated her belief in this goal.  She has a deep love for education and a dream of providing opportunities for as many people as possible.  As a university professor, she has achieved national acclaim as a cross cultural and multi-racial specialist.  Dr. Carr-Casanova is aware of her impact as an example to young Latinas and encourages young Chicanos to excel.

     Dr. Carr-Casanova is also highly trained in public policy and works to provide better services to women of all races and to poor and needy families.  She worked to establish the Marin County Minority Mental Health Services, and to have counseling services in Spanish provided though the Family Service agency.  While on the Board of Directors of United Way, Dr. Carr-Casanova brought five Latino agencies in as new members.  At the national level, she has been instrumental in providing birth control information in Spanish to the nation's Hispanic population.  In addition, Dr. Carr-Casanova raises funds for the Chicana/Latina Foundation, helping Hispanic women to access higher education.  In 1994, she was named Citizen of the Year by the Marin Council of Agencies.

     As a psychotherapist, Dr. Carr-Casanova works with groups of youth who are believed to be dangerous and is successful in bringing out the best in the community's most disturbed and discarded teenagers -- many of whom she has seen become successful business people under her tutelage.

     Dr. Carr-Casanova is truly a champion of the underdog.  She is continually looking for better ways to understand, represent and serve the Hispanic people.  She advocates that people obey the law, work hard and be of service to their families and to the community.  She stands as a powerful model, especially for women, of focused determined action to uphold human rights and to ensure dignity for all.

Read the extended biography by R.L.S. Kropf

MARYJANE DUNSTAN
Community Service
2005

   Learning and teaching are my passions, said Maryjane Dunstan first, last, and always an educator. After teaching at Merritt College and College of Marin, she was recruited by the State Department to teach in Burma under a Fulbright grant. Her work was so exceptional her one-year appointment was extended to four.  

    Maryjane founded the Communications Department at College of Marin, taught there for 20 years, and co-authored two future studies textbooks. A true visionary, she developed courses such as "Inventing the Future", at which Buckminster Fuller spoke. Her "Future Fare" in the early 70s envisioned such unheard of concepts as laser holograms, geodesic domes, and even personal computers.      Maryjane believed that educators have responsibility to the community. She served tirelessly on elected and appointed Larkspur commissions. An untiring catalyst for change, Maryjane always knew what to do and didn't hesitate to enlist others in getting it done. She earned the title of "Boss of Larkspur" because no matter how thorny the issue, she could always smile while she twisted arms and persuaded others to see things her way.  

    Maryjane also made her mark in the literary community. Co-owner of the beloved Artist's Proof Bookstore on Magnolia Avenue, she hosted a series of literary lunches first at Fabrizio's, then at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, and finally at the Larkspur Cafe Theater. Not only did she bring in world-class authors, she also engaged them in conversations that went straight to the heart of their work. She stripped away all facades, ultimately revealing each author as one of us.       Before her death in 2002, she left her friends some words of appreciation, along with a few regrets: 

    "I regret that I cannot hop out of bed and walk down Magnolia today. . . that I'm not out on the links trying for another hole-in-one! I regret that I am not able to send daily emails to our elected officials seeking their active leadership for peaceful problem solving and UN negotiations rather than wars and more killing fields. Yet treasuring each moment . . . I feel a measure of peace. . . . I have evolved in a culture when we women gained some rights and are now emerging as leaders for a just and peaceful world."  

    Maryjane Dunstan followed her passions until her death in December 2002. What a legacy!

JOYCE H. GOLDFIELD
Community Service
1994

     As a young mother, Joyce Goldfield spent hours on the ice-skating rink, in the ballet studio and in her sail boat.  After a violent attack on her life, which she miraculously survived, Ms. Goldfield developed multiple sclerosis (associated with the trauma of this attack).  Subsequent balance problems interfered with her ability to ice skate at her previously level of expertise and she returned to her childhood love, horses.  While riding, she was bucked off a horse and confined to a full-body cast for two months.  Discussing her frustration about the cast and hindrance to her freedom with her friend Duane T. Irving, they talked about the problems of disabled youngsters, confined to wheelchairs, unable to properly enjoy the freedom and healing powers of the wilderness.

     On July 9, 1977, at Duane's ranch with 12 riders and 6 gentle horses, she opened the Halleck Creek Riding Club, a Marin County 4-H Club.  The club has grown to a membership of over 500 riders of all ages and disabilities, with a core of 100 volunteers and 35 horses.  Ms. Goldfield has written a book about 20 years of Halleck Creek in which she states that Halleck Creek is an  affirmation that life is a joy, regardless of the pitfalls, and that it is more important to celebrate what you CAN do, rather than to grieve over what you cannot.

Read the extended biography by Nancy Smith Harris

KATE HACKER (posthumous)
Community Service
2002

      Kate Hacker touched hundreds of lives as a compassionate teacher and an inspiring community organizer.  She improved the lives of children - especially teenagers - by connecting them with their community.

     Kate Hacker taught early childhood development at Santa Rosa Junior College, in childcare programs, and ran children's drama workshops.  She served as Director of the Campaign for a Healthier Community for Children (CHCC) from 1987 until her death.

     The creation of the Music Mentor Program in 1993 was the high point of Kate's professional life.   This innovative program featured monthly concerts by local, teenage bands and drew crowds of six hundred.  Despite initial objections from local authorities, Kate persisted.  She took on her community's fear of teenage energy and made from it an outlet for teenage creativity.  Kate believed the only way teens would learn responsibility was by having them handle the concerts themselves.  They interviewed bands, promoted the concerts, performed, and even managed security.  By teaching them responsibility, Kate showed teens they could have fun, earn respect, and achieve success.

     While struggling with pancreatic cancer in 1998, Kate worked with her staff until her last month, preparing them to carry on the work of CHCC. Two weeks before she died, Kate rested at home while CHCC's annual talent show (the 12th she produced) took place.  After the show the child and adult participants stood under Kate's bedroom window and serenaded her with the songs she'd taught them.  Later that year, 50 children and adults made a float in Kate's honor and marched in the County Fair Days Parade, where Kate Hacker was posthumously named Honorary Marshall.

DOROTHY A. HUGHES
Community Service
199

     A self-proclaimed radical working for peace and social justice, Dorothy Hughes' concerns about the isolation and disarray of American families has led to a variety of events, programs, and numerous efforts to reshape relevant public policy.

     Her efforts began while working on her master's degree and raising eight children. She also taught disadvantaged youth and was active in the peace movement opposing involvement in Vietnam.  Her move to Marin in 1969 began a career with the Mental Health Association that  has included developing a comprehensive community care system for mental health clients, such as Marin Lodge, Buckalew and Avanti houses; preventative services such as Suicide Prevention and the Canal Children's Center; and community action programs such as stop-bys for latch-key children.  These programs are part of a network that assists people with mental health problems and addresses the concerns that led to the formation of the "Campaign for a Healthier Community".

     Dorothy Hughes is always there to organize, chair or serve on important Marin-based groups devoted to human rights, mental health, children, and older people at the local, state and federal levels.  Her fond hope is that there will one day be a progressive national policy on children and families.

MARGUERITA C. JOHNSON
Community Service
1993

     When Marguerita Johnson graduated with a Master's in Education in the 1930's there were few teaching positions in the North for an African-American woman.  When she was able to find work in her home state of Illinois. she moved to Florida and taught in a one room school house until the advent of the Second World War.  There she became extremely active in church and civic affairs, primarily in the area of civil rights and, with her husband, raised five children, in addition to working full time.

      At age 56, Ms. Johnson "retired" and moved to California.  She entered U.C. Berkeley and obtained a Master's Degree in Library Science.  She found work in Marin and gravitated to Marin City to get closer to her church and the African-American community.  Ms. Johnson quickly became a leader, serving on both the Marin City Community Service District Board and the Community Development Corporation Board.  Ms. Johnson served nine years on the Marin County Commission on Aging, including two years as its chairperson.  She was instrumental in developing the Village Oduduwa Senior Housing development which provided low-income housing for the elderly.  She also helped establish what is now known as the Marguerita Johnson Senior Center.

ANNE T. KENT
Community Service
1988

     Anne T. Kent devoted her life to serving and enriching the Marin community through her enthusiastic interest and energetic participation in a variety of activities.  She showed her love of the environment by donating half of Kent Island in Bolinas Lagoon to the Nature Conservancy as a wildlife refuge.  A woman who loved being outdoors, she further demonstrated her environmental commitment as a founding member of the Marin Art and Garden Center, the Marin Conservation League and the Marin Garden Club.  She also had an active, long-term involvement with the National Audubon Society, California Botanical Society and the Save the Redwoods League.

     Anne Kent, who attended "librarianship school" in 1920, showed her love of reading and learning through her "generous and warm-hearted" leadership in the establishment of the Marin County Library System in the 1920's.  She later initiated and managed an extensive oral history project focusing on Marin's earlier years, interviewing, with her partner, over two hundred and twenty-five "old-time" Marinites.  She was also an active member of the Marin County Historical Society, the California Historical Society and the Friends of the Library.  The Civic Center Library Branch houses a special room devoted to California and Marin history. It is named "The Anne T. Kent Room" in recognition of her many civic contributions.

MARTHA MARTINEZ
Community Service
1996

     Martha  Martinez volunteered for many organizations that provided services for the Latino population in Marin, especially those that helped the Latinos become more a part of the community.  Where no programs existed, she started them.  One of her most outstanding services was the work she did for the Novato police department in composing Spanish translations for publications.  She worked with the Marin Independent Elders Project, the Marin Housing Authority, Fair Housing La Familia Center, In-Home Support Services of Marin and the Commission on Aging.  Ms. Martinez developed a Language Bank to bring bilingual volunteers to serve low income seniors in Marin.

     Her respect for elders fueled her and she directed her energies toward the elderly in general and the Latino elderly in particular.  She formed the Corazon Latino groups for senior Latino women and for men.  She founded a program with the Novato Police Department called "Are You OK?", which is still operating, in which volunteers call home-bound seniors every day to check on their safety.  She served as a mentor to many Hispanic women in Marin, encouraging them and promoting higher education.  Ms. Martinez was born in Guadalajara, Mexico.  After attending school in San Antonio, Texas, she worked in Mexico City as a translator for the Rockefeller and Ford foundations as a secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, returning to the United States to live in 1965.  She died September 13, 1995.  Novato Police Chief Brian Brady said, "Martha Martinez's accomplishments and legacy will live on.  The police and this community lost a friend."

 Helping others, seniors, the disabled, the economically disadvantaged, to find affordable housing has been Mary Murtagh’s primary focus since college. After graduating cum laude from Wellesley College, she studied architecture at M.I.T. Mary was assigned to design a bus shelter in a public housing project and saw for the first time, the reality of urban poverty. She was motivated to be part of the solution and abandoned architecture to become involved in urban problems, housing policy and real estate finance.

Mary believes that poverty is very often a women’s issue that has a cascading effect due to discrimination and flawed social policies. Early in her career, Mary saw that the security of housing would provide a secure foundation to give disadvantaged women and their families an opportunity to succeed.

Today Mary serves as President and CEO at EAH Housing, (Ecumenical Association for Housing) and has overseen EAH develop over 5,500 units in 42 municipalities in California and Hawaii - often places where "affordable housing" is an oxymoron.

Mary served as Assistant Deputy Administrator of the Community Redevelopment Agency in Los Angeles and Development Officer for the Urban Development Action Program of HUD. She spearheaded a $4 million renovation of the 174-unit Arlington Hotel in San Francisco for St. Vincent de Paul, an award-winning development, one of the first "sober" residential complexes in the nation for recovering alcoholics.

Mary’s perseverance, innovation, enormous energy, leadership ability and focus on affordable housing has proven to be her life-defining work: growing EAH from a small grassroots organization with 16 properties in Marin to a nationally recognized non-profit housing development, management and advocacy organization serving over 18,000 individuals in two states.

Her innovative policy changes at EAH Housing have included: access to technology for EAH residents, a corporate-wide "green" policy, programs for women re-entering the job force, residential training programs and child care facilities. Mary championed the first computer learning center in HUD’s Western Region; a network of 13 centers in EAH developments. She is committed to preserving properties at risk of conversion to Market Rate housing by keeping them available for low-income families and seniors.

From bureaucracy and NIMBYs, dried-up financial support systems, to an ever increasing demand for affordable housing, Mary has faced set-backs and challenges with grit and tenacity. Whether it is Edgewater Place, Mackey Terrace, Cecilia Place or one of a dozen others, she sees each property as a vital safe harbor for families who are working hard to keep their lives together.

The Hall of Fame is proud of Mary’s enduring quest to provide affordable housing for those in need.

EDNA MUSE
Community Service
1988

     Edna Muse is a volunteer dedicated to many Marin organizations.  She has committed countless hours to many causes that impact the quality of life for local residents, including the American Cancer Society, the Novato Human Needs Center, the Novato Unified School District, and numerous local hospitals.  She co-founded the Concerned Parents of Novato, a multiracial organization that raises scholarship money for local African-American youth.  Her ability to walk in someone else's shoes has made her a valuable asset to the Novato Police Advisory and Review Board.  Her service ranges from helping to collect emergency foods, to serving on speakers bureaus, to being in charge of fund-raising.  She's upbeat and possesses an uncanny ability to find the common bound between diverse groups of people.  An active member of her church, she is an extraordinary singer and soloist in the choir.

     Ms. Muse's contributions have been recognized in numerous awards including the Humanitarian Award from the Marin County Human Rights Commission.  A close friend wrote, "It can be truly said of Edna Muse that she has played a part in fulfilling the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  She has tried to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit those who were in prison;  she has tried to love and serve humanity."

Read Edna Muse's extended biography

Few people affect the greater public good than Dolores Nave, affectionately known as Dolly. At age 20, Dolly was a widow with two children.  Dolly's first husband was lost in the Korean War. In 1955, Dolly married Rich Nave. Rich and Dolly raised eight children. With her eight children involved in athletics and recreational activities, Dolly had firsthand knowledge of available park, recreation facilities and facility use requirements. Dolly soon set out to improve our parks.  Since beginning these projects in 1982, Dolly can single handled be credited with more public park improvements than any other private citizen of our time.

Dolly volunteered at Albert Park for 35 years working with the kids. Dolly created jobs for teenagers who needed school credit in the school work program at San Rafael High School. Dolly was called the "Angel of Albert Park."  With tireless fundraising efforts and in kind donations, Dolly was able to accomplish upgrades to Albert Park, making Albert's Park a state of the art recreation facility. Dolly's efforts lead to a new press box, public address system, new surfaces for entry and bleacher areas,  resurfaced tennis courts and path, new roof for stadium, new infield, new sand turf, new batting cages, new warm-up and pitching mounds, automatic irrigation systems, new drainage lines, handicap access restrooms, repaved the parking lot etc.

Dolly was the project manager for the construction of the Marin Community Fields. This project created seventeen acres of public playing fields providing softball, baseball, rugby, and soccer.   Also, the Marin Community Fields project constructed a thousand seat amp-theater for performing arts and Redwood High School Graduations. 

Over the last forty years Dolly has been at the forefront of several projects at San Rafael High School.  In the 80's, as project coordinator Dolly raised funds to grade and add two new electronic scoreboards for softball and baseball.   In addition, Dolly replaced the surge and filter tanks for the pool and refurbished the decks.   

In the 90's, as the Alumni Project Coordinator, Dolly started a new long term project to paint the entire school. The initial phase was completed and every year since  another phase of the paint project has been completed. Dolly initiated, "Save Night Football" campaign, resulting in the installation of state of the art football lights at Miller Field. Dolly's fundraising efforts lead to the replacement of the infrastructure at the main gym, football, baseball and track fields. Also, installed a tank for the swimming pool to save water and operating expenses.  In addition, completed the installation of new all weather track surface including drainage, side curbs, fencing and high tech sports track surface. In 2000, as the project coordinator, all weather track surfacing was completed.  San Rafael High School was the first High School in Marin County to have an all weather track.

In 1993, Dolly was a founding board member and construction chair of The Marin Bocce Federation at Albert Park. In 1994, Dolly's efforts led to the completion of the first phase, six state of the art world class synthetic Bocce ball courts in the United States.   The Marin Bocce Federation now provides recreation to over 1000 players per week. Marin Bocce was named the most Beautiful Public Bocce Facility in America and received the Presidential Renew America Award for Environmental Achievements. 

Dolly received many awards for her outstanding accomplishments and efforts.  In 1988, Dolly was awarded, Citizen of the Year for San Rafael. In 1989, Dolly was awarded the Marv Lechner Award from San Rafael High School.  In 1991, Dolly was awarded Women of the Year for the third Senate District for the State of California.  In 1993, Dolly was inducted in the Marin County High School Athletic Hall of Fame for special recognition.  In 2010, Dolly and Rich were inducted in the Wall of Honor at San Rafael High School.

Dolly would be the first to tell you that she did not do this alone. Such accomplishments can only be realized with the full cooperation of concerned local government, school districts, civic minded local business and motivated citizens.  Dolly was a true volunteer, never receiving any compensation for any of her projects.  Dolly provided millions of dollars in funding and in kind donations for many school fields, parks and recreation sites.

REBECCA PORRATA
Community Service
1992

     Rebecca Orosco de Porrata was born in a barrio in Southern California.  Although her alcoholic father was frequently absent from the home because of his work as a longshoreman, her mother was always present to guide and encourage her, and remains her role model to this day.  Ms. Porrata studied nursing at Creedmore State Hospital School of Nursing  Adelphi University, and Sonoma State University.  She worked as a psychiatric nurse at hospitals in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and California.  She also developed a practical nursing program in New Jersey for low income and minority women.  Through the course, the women gained entry level health care job skills.

     When she moved to West Marin, Ms. Porrata became aware of the growing Hispanic population's unmet needs - the health problems, community isolation, language barrier, and illiteracy.  As a public health nurse, she worked with the local community to integrate that population and solve those problems.  In her position as Health Services Coordinator at the West Marin Family Center, based at the West Marin School, she works closely with a variety of organization to identify outreach strategies for the Hispanic community and to assist them in identifying their own needs.

     Her daughter  Alexandra is a graduate of the nursing program at Dominican College and her daughter Yolanda currently attends San Francisco State University.

DAISY MARIA SAEZ
de IBARRA
(posthumous)
Community Service
2007

   Daisy Maria Saez de Ibarra was a feminist before the word became a movement. One of a handful of women in the 1940s and 1950s to attend law school in Cuba, Daisy worked as a lawyer and social worker in her native country. In those days, such jobs always belonged to men.

    She and her husband Octavio found conditions in Communist Cuba growing intolerable. In 1960 they left their homeland in search of freedom and a new life. After settling in Marin, Daisy never returned to her beloved Cuba again.

    Daisy’s keen intelligence, boundless generosity, and personal and professional integrity helped her adjust to her new home. Eager to help other immigrants adjust, Daisy co-found La Familia Center, a place where Spanish speaking people could find jobs, learn English, and find housing. Although her title was “Trabajadora Social” (social worker), she was much more. She was the “go-to” person who connected people to services and resources, helped them solve problems, and encouraged them with the words, “Si, se puede!” (yes, you can).

    Her training in the law had sharpened Daisy’s sense of injustice. She recognized exploitation when she saw it and was quick to help people seek legal assistance and redress. Because of her own traumatic experience as a newcomer, Daisy knew that celebrating traditional cultural events was a good way to help immigrants forge a new community. She encouraged these celebrations, and this legendary cook would bring her famous Cuban flan to every event.

    After leaving La Familia, Daisy saw the need for another place to serve the growing Hispanic community. She encouraged Marta Martinez to start the Multicultural Program at Whistlestop. Today the program thrives, with three fulltime employees providing seniors with language programs, referral and translation services, ESL and citizenship classes, and more.

    The final career stop for Daisy was the Marin Department of Health and Human Services. For 14 years she helped Spanish-speakers work through legal regulations to determine if they qualified for Medical, food stamps, or cash benefits.

    Daisy was a fully realized human being, a woman of integrity and action. Cuba was always in her heart, while she worked tirelessly to provide friendship and assistance to others trying to adjust to a new home. Daisy and her legacy of service to her community will not be forgotten.

FRANCES STEADMAN   
Community Service
1998

       Frances Steadman's selection for the 1998 Marin Women's Hall of Fame is an appropriate tribute to her courage and leadership in the cause of peace and justice.  Born to Quaker parents with strong convictions, Steadman grew up with a commitment to oppose all warfare and to disallow discrimination against people of other races.  For more than three decades, Stedman has risked her own welfare and freedom on behalf of disenfranchised peoples in this country and around the world.  She has immersed herself in social issues such as civil rights, nuclear war, prison reform, homelessness, human rights and environmental degradation.  Her selfless dedication to others is truly inspiring.

     In the early sixties, Steadman traveled into the South to support black suffrage and to register black voters.  She was also a vocal supporter of the nuclear disarmament movement, and withstood a jail sentence for protesting against nuclear weapons.  At some risk to her own life and health, she has spearheaded the collection and distribution of material aid to people in Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Chiapas.

     Steadman has been a longtime chair of the Social Concerns Committee of the Marin Unitarian Fellowship, and a leading spirit of the Marin Gray Panthers.  She has been an activist with the Marin Advocates for Justice and a board member of the Marin Interfaith Task Force, as well as a member of the Marin Welfare and Immigration Network (Marin WIN).  She has organized the peace and social justice contingent of the Corte Madera Fourth of July Parade for the past two decades.  Despite all of this activity, she finds time on a weekly basis to lead the singing at a local senior day care center.

     Frances Steadman has demonstrated the tremendous energy, organizing ability, charm and goodwill that women can bring to causes that serve not only the needy, but also society.  She is an exemplary role model for her family, her friends, and her community.

Read the extended biography by Rita Gardner

GAIL THELLER Community Service
2003

       In her years with Community Action Marin, dynamo executive director Gail Theller has witnessed CAM grow from a fledging with a $40,000 annual budget to a huge, multi-program, multi-site service agency with an annual budget exceeding $10 million.  and she's not done yet.

     Personally and professionally Gail thrives on empowering people - especially women.  Countless poor women have gone to school or work because Gail has seen that CAM provides affordable, quality childcare.  She has increased the number of day care programs for infants and established the million-dollar Hamilton Children's Campus, serving 150 children in Novato.

     Gail finds creative ways to say "yes."  When the AIDS epidemic surfaced, she positioned CAM as a key provider of services.  By developing unique peer-run programs, Gail has helped Marin's homeless and mentally ill to take control of their lives.  Some of her programs serve as models in other parts of the country.

     Successful collaboration is another of Gail's trademarks.  Working with Goodwill, Gail and CAM developed Marin Jobs and Career Services.  Since 1997 they have placed more than 600 at-risk residents in permanent jobs paying at least $8 an hour.  The Helen Vine Detox Center, another successful partnership, serves more than 800 Marinites a year.

     Over the years Gail has nurtured Marin's most valued, successful organizations - Homeward Bound, the Farmer's Market, the Food Bank, the Marin Child Care Council, and Ritter House.  Currently CAM is fiscal agent to emerging organizations such as Isoji (serving Marin City) and the Marin Continuum of Housing and Services.

     Gail's strength and courage are also evident in her personal life.  She has dealt openly with being gay, overcome an alcohol problem, and donated a kidney to her sister.  Gail is a beacon, showing us how to serve with generosity, compassion and dignity.   

BETTY TIMES
Community Service
1991

     Betty Times has been a leader in Marin County since high school days.  Married and the mother of five children by the age of twenty two, Ms. Times entered a job training program when her youngest child was two.  She simultaneously entered a bachelor's degree program and earned her B.S. in 1979.  She began working for the County of Marin as a typist in the public library and ultimately became a major department head.  As Director of Citizen's Services with the County of Marin, Ms. Times was responsible for providing services to the most vulnerable of Marin's citizens.

     Ms. Times' public career includes three elections to the Sausalito School Board, serving as President three times, a founding member of the Marin County Commission on the Status of Women, President of the Marin NWPC and its national Vice-President, Chair of the Marin Democratic Central Committee, board member of Marin General Hospital, and service on numerous local and regional boards.

   After her retirement from county government, Ms. Times became Administrative Director of the Marin City Project, where she displays her outstanding leadership as that community works to be active in economic and community development and to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the Marin City USA development.  Focusing on coordination of efforts to serve Marin City, she works to improve the conditions and well-being of Marin City's residents. (Betty passed away in 2001)

GRACE WELLMAN
Community Service
1989

     Grace Wellman gave her time over and over to influence issues meaningful to the community.  Her involvement and leadership were varied.  She ran the Civil Defense for Kentfield during World War II.  She coordinated the volunteer program, speaker's bureau and other programs for the Marin American Red Cross.  She played a leadership role with both the Marin Garden Club and the Marin Outdoor Art Club.  In addition, Mrs.  Wellman's volunteer support to the Marin Conservation League lasted over forty years, as she served as its President and in numerous other capacities.

     Mrs. Wellman was instrumental in saving the Bolinas lagoon as well as many other open space areas.  She described much of her work in conservation as learning "when to play Paul Revere" including when to sound the alarm, who to call, and where to go.  In 1982, she was awarded the Green Award, the highest award of the Marin Conservation League in recognition of her years of excellence in the environmental field.  She attributed her success to the fact that she enjoyed people and she could organize them and they could have fun.

Read Grace Wellman's extended biography  

 MAE WYGANT 
Community Service
1988

    Mae Wygant is an artist with vision.  It is her ability to carry her vision to fruition that has benefited thousands of elderly Bay Area residents.  An ordained elder at her church, Mae spoke with fellow church members gathered at her kitchen table about the unmet needs of older Marinites.  Many were passing their days without any visitors or companionship except attending medical personnel.  Enlisting the support of friends, neighbors and others willing to volunteer, Mae founded "Love Is The Answer" (LITA) in 1975.  LITA is an agency which makes friendship connections between residents of convalescent homes and volunteers.  Through her persistence and commitment to service, agencies have been established over the years in Sonoma, Alameda and Contra Costa counties.  LITA continues to grow; in 1996, a LITA was formed in Napa County.

     Mae now faces the challenges of living with a chronic neuro-muscular disease.  Over the past decade, she has experienced problems with her vision, muscle coordination and the daily consciousness of living "less able".  But while Mae has had to slow down her busy schedule, she continues with her successful painting career and with her LITA involvement.  She serves as an advisor to LITA in Sonoma, and recently volunteered as a LITA coordinator in a local hospital.  Mae also financially supports LITA by donating some of her artwork to be sold at LITA fund-raisers.  Her plans for the future include LITA, exhibiting new artworks and writing more poetry.

Read Mae Wygant's extended biography