Issue date: January 12, 2000
Portola Valley lost one of its favorite sons last week with the passing of Walter Jelich Jr., who made his mark as an orchard rancher during an era that is all but gone from the valley today.
Mr. Jelich, the son of Croatian immigrant Walter Jelich Sr., was born in 1915 and grew up with the trees his father planted on the Portola Road ranch. The young Walter, along with other children from the valley's Croatian community, attended school in the "little white schoolhouse" that was painstakingly restored recently through contributions from residents of the town and is now open to all at Portola Valley town meetings.
His early tutelage in the ways of fruit trees gave Walter Jr., a career that made him one of the best-known -- and most loved -- growers in the area. His apples, plums, pears, apricots, walnuts and pumpkins were prized by Peninsula residents, who made a tradition of driving out to the ranch for fresh fruit. And thousands of area schoolchildren will never forget the crisp, polished apples they received from Walter or the pumpkins at Halloween.
The only advertisement the Jelichs needed was the small sign by the mailbox, which indicated what fruit was available. Over the years, Mr. Jelich expanded far beyond his 22 acres in the Valley, overseeing orchards as far away as San Jose and La Honda for owners unskilled in the ways of fruit trees.
As time wore on and property values increased, Mr. Jelich became virtually the last commercial grower in the valley, but he never considered selling his ranch.
He and his wife Zelda were more interested in family, and enjoyed having their daughters and grandchildren nearby. And today, many in the Jelich family remain in the Valley, a connection that has remained steady and strong for more than a century.
© 2000 The Almanac. All Rights Reserved.