By Pam Walatka
Margaret Abe of Los Altos, who runs Strictly Candid, and Dr. Robert Smithwick of Los Altos Hills, the founding president of the Foothill Community College District board of trustees, have been named winners of the Avenidas Lifetimes of Achievement Awards.
Avenidas, the senior services organization, will host a garden reception in a private home in Los Altos Hills 2-4 p.m. May 21 to honor Abe and Smithwick and the other award-winners, Pat Briggs, Dr. Margaret Deanesly, Dr. Harry Hartzell and Shirley and Duncan Matteson. The reception is open to the public by reservation.
Smithwick helped change the California college system with his work planning and then overseeing Foothill College. De Anza College was built later. At that time, the district’s name was changed.
“What had been an extension of high school became a full-fledged college system offering an extensive array of vocational and academic opportunities,” he said. “We changed the whole mystique.”
Smithwick, a pediatric dentist, founded MediShare International, an organization of ham radio operators that finds and distributes medical and dental equipment, supplies and pharmaceuticals to clinics and hospitals in the Third World. He started the organization after listening to a ham radio conversation between a man in England and a doctor in a remote hospital in Rwanda. The doctor was looking for hard-to-find gaskets for an old sterilizer. Smithwick realized he could help out.
Smithwick told the doctor, “If you have other needs, let me know.” The Rwanda doctor answered, “We haven’t had an X-ray machine in years.” Smithwick tracked down the gaskets and a used X-ray for him, and the idea grew into a non-profit foundation.
“The great thing about MediShare is that we send only what is requested,” Smithwick said. “We find the requested materials, have them refurbished and send them directly to the requester. Our cost is only pennies on the dollar, because most of the equipment is donated; we pay only for repairs and shipping.
“By working with Direct Relief International in Santa Barbara, we make sure that the equipment sent will have the right kind of plugs and connectors for the country where it will be used.” See medishare.org for more information
Smithwick, 85, and a widower, built his Los Altos Hills home in 1960. When the realtor showed him the lot, the air was cleaner than it is now. He recalled that “from a certain spot, you could see the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
“I marked the spot, brought my wife to see the lot, blindfolded her as we got near, and led her to the spot I had marked. Then I took off the blindfold and showed her the view. She was astonished.”
When congratulated, Smithwick said with trademark wit, “Well, it covers up the things that didn’t work out.”
A widow with four surviving sons, Abe is a longtime contributor to the Town Crier. She works tirelessly in a variety of non-profit organizations and runs her photography business.
In 1981, her third son, Kent, was killed by a garbage truck backing down their steep street. Abe spearheaded a movement to write and pass Assembly Bill 3809, which requires large trucks to emit alarm signals when backing up.
She served on the board of the Montclaire Elementary and Homestead High School PTAs and of the El Camino Hospital Foundation, for which she co-chaired fund-raising galas. Abe co-founded the Meditation Garden. She helped raise money for the Community School of Music and Arts, and, consistent with her passion for Japanese culture, helped launch the popular annual Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival.
Abe said she is cutting back on her charitable activities and her business because she is busy moving out of her Los Altos home and into a condominium.
“I figured that 10 years from now when I am ready to downsize, I probably couldn’t do it,” she said. “It’s hard now! I have boxes and boxes marked ’sort and shred.’”
Abe feels “very, very blessed” that she has friends, her grown children and grandchildren all living nearby. “My plan is: The grandchildren stay over, then we walk into town. I like being walking distance from town.” She lives with her two cats, Kimi and Shizuka.
Avenidas (”New Roads for Older Adults”), 450 Bryant St., Palo Alto, is a private, non-profit agency with more than 35 years’ experience helping mid-Peninsula seniors live well, learn and maintain their independence.
Avenidas recently opened the Rose Kleiner Senior Day Health Center, 270 Escuela, Mountain View. It offers nursing services, social work and therapies, classes and social activities. To learn more, call 289-5499.
Tickets to the awards reception cost $65. To reserve a place, call 289-5435 or visit www.avenidas.org. Proceeds from the reception benefit Avenidas programs.
