'Horseman of year': deep roots in mining, riding 'Horseman of year': deep roots in mining, riding (January 16, 2002)

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

Portola Valley resident Bill Wraith's paternal grandfather was an internationally known metallurgist and miner with a reputation for being handy with his fists. His maternal grandfather raised cattle and horses in the old West and was not a stranger to frontier justice. And these men were themselves descended from miners and horsemen.

So it should come as no surprise that Mr. Wraith, 68, who the Mounted Patrol of San Mateo County recently named as this year's "Outstanding Horseperson-Citizen," has spent time underground as a hard-rock miner and has logged countless hours on horseback. And although Mr. Wraith did pursue a career in mining, he has also found his own path.

His journey began in the 1930s in a mining town, Anaconda, Montana, home of the giant Anaconda Copper Mining Co., which employed both his father and grandfather. When Bill was only 6, his father took a job managing a copper mine in Mexico and moved the family to a little town in the state of Sonora. Bill began grade school in a four-room schoolhouse.

"Half my classmates wore no shoes," he said. "It was a basic, humbling experience."

The poor circumstances did not reflect on the quality of the education, however. Classes were taught in English and Spanish, with a heavy emphasis on language instruction, he said. "My English is superb," he said, adding that he also speaks fluent Spanish.

At night, he went to sleep to the sounds of Mexican cowboys, or vaqueros, playing guitars and singing songs. He eventually learned to sing and play the guitar and, during the summers, live the life of a vaquero, herding and branding cattle, breaking horses and mending fences.

"I guess I grew up as much a Mexican as I did American," he said.

Bill graduated from grade school as valedictorian in a class of five and went to the only nearby high school, the New Mexico Military Institute, which was also the last outpost of the U.S. Army's horse cavalry. The curriculum there included daily mounted drills and combat exercises.

Speaking of his childhood, Mr. Wraith said, "It was a marvelous romantic situation for a boy to grow up in."

He attended college at Stanford University, married his college sweetheart and served in the Air National Guard for two years, retiring as a captain in the reserves. Later, with degrees in mining, minerals engineering and business, he began an 18-year career in the mining industry, much of it as a corporate vice-president.

His corporate activities eventually led him to join David Powell Inc., a management consulting firm based in Woodside in which he is a senior partner. He is also CEO of The Wraith Group, located in Portola Valley, which provides management expertise and funding for startup companies in the fields of health care, the environment, and education.

Among his achievements are finding funding for and guiding through to FDA approval the CyberKnife technology, a surgical robot developed by Accuray Inc. that uses X-rays to destroy cancerous tumors without surgery and without damaging nearby tissues. Mr. Wraith is currently working on a project that he says will significantly reduce the time required to test and win approval for new medical treatments.

Mr. Wraith, a Golden Glove boxer in high school who keeps fit by running every day, says he most enjoys a six-to-eight hour ride on his horse in the Redwoods or the Sierras or the mountains of Montana.

He also fishes for trout at his home on the Feather River and at the old homestead in Montana. "I feel close to God [when I'm fishing]," he said, adding that he always throws them back. He has been a vegetarian for 25 years.

Mr. Wraith has two sons and has been married to his wife, Leslie, for 45 years. "I have a fabulous wife," he said. "Without her, I never would have done everything [I have done]."

Mr. Wraith has been a member of the Mounted Patrol since 1975 and was elected captain of the patrol in 1987.

Regarding his award, retired Superior Court Judge Tom Smith, a member of the selection committee, said: "Bill is an extremely hard worker who is a credit to our horse and world communities, having pioneered in health care and education, as a fundraiser for worthy causes, and as a business professional."