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Six honored for community service
Lifetime of Achievement honorees named

by Eric Van Susteren

Six local residents have been named Lifetime of Achievement honorees by Avenidas Inc., the senior services organization based n Palo Alto.

The six honorees are Bill Floyd of Portola Valley, Phyllis Moldaw of Atherton, Kenneth Sletten of Woodside, Jean Coblentz of Sunnyvale, and Boyd Smith and Jill Johnson Smith of Palo Alto.

The six were recognized during a private reception at the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto on Feb. 9.

Each year, Avenidas, a senior-services organization, recognizes members of the community who are older than 65 as Lifetimes of Achievement honorees for their work as philanthropists, community leaders and fundraisers.

"It is a thrill for Avenidas to shine the spotlight on this group and give them the recognition they deserve," Avenidas CEO Lisa Hendrickson said in an announcement.

Bill Floyd's community efforts range in scale from local to statewide. He has chaired and served on many nonprofits' boards, including Lytton Gardens, Community Housing Inc., YMCA of the Mid-Peninsula, Children's Health Council and Avenidas.

He has been a member of Yosemite Conservancy Board since 1993, a UC Berkeley Foundation trustee since 1994, and chair of the Berkeley Engineering Fund Board since 1996.

Phyllis Moldaw financially supports and participates in charitable and community organizations, particularly those focusing on the underprivileged and underserved. She was a lead donor for the Moldaw-Zaffaroni clubhouse of the Menlo Park Boys and Girls Club, a lead donor and board member of Moldaw Family Residences at Palo Alto's Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life, and a significant supporter of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

She also participated in Communities in Schools, a national network that serves the lowest performing schools and the students most vulnerable to dropping out. She is a former president and current trustee of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

Ken Sletten was a partner, founder and CEO of the general contracting firm Rudolph & Sletten, known for its construction of such projects as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Skywalker Ranch.

He serves on the boards of Habitat for Humanity, Stanford Athletics, the Stanford University DAPER Investment Fund and the Palo Alto Club. He received a Purple Heart for his service in the Korean War.

Honoree Jean Coblentz's community involvement goes back to 1953, when she co-founded the board for Stanford University's Cap and Gown Women Leaders Honors Society. She has been a volunteer and officer of the Allied Arts Guild Auxiliary in Menlo Park and raised money for what became Packard Children's Hospital.

She is chair of the Auxiliary's Development Committee and a development officer at Stanford for 27 years, where she served two terms with Associates of Stanford Libraries. She is also an honorary member of the PTA.

Boyd Smith and Jill Johnson Smith founded the Golden Gate Family Foundation and co-founded the California Family Foundation. At Stanford, they co-endowed the Housing Assistance Program for families (Escondido Family Fund), the Martin Luther King Jr. Centennial Professorship Chair and Martin Luther King Jr. student scholarships.

They both served on the advisory board of Stanford's Center for the Study of Families, Children and Youth.

Boyd Smith has chaired the boards of the YMCA of the Mid-Peninsula, Avenidas, Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Children's Health Council. He was on the Board of Governors of Stanford Associates, currently serves on Stanford's Hoover Institution Board of Overseers, and is a member of the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Foundation board.

Jill Johnson Smith has been on the board of RoadRunners Sports Club for youth at Onetta Harris Community Center in Menlo Park.

Avenidas will host a garden party for the honorees on Sunday, May 20, from 3 to 5 p.m., along with its community partners, the Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Online. Proceeds from the garden party help fund the programs offered at Avenidas.

Visit avenidas.org or call 289-5445 to buy tickets for $75.