Menlo Park loses longtime sports, parks advocate Menlo Park loses longtime sports, parks advocate (March 03, 2004)

** Former Parks and Recreation Commission chair Tom Harrison is remembered as a mentor and a leader.

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

When Stuart Zussman was a rookie member of Menlo Park's Parks and Recreation Commission, he looked to veteran commissioner Tom Harrison as a mentor.

"He offered me a lot of great advice, and he helped me learn to be more effective with the City Council," he said. "He really was a great example of what community service and civic involvement can be in terms of his energy level and a real eagerness to do what's right for the city."

Now Mr. Zussman is doing his best to follow in Tom Harrison's footsteps. Mr. Harrison, 64, died February 22 after an illness, and Mr. Zussman took his place as commission chair.

"They're impossible shoes to fill," Mr. Zussman said.

Many would agree. A proclamation issued by the City Council last month to honor Mr. Harrison covers a host of his efforts, including seeking out new athletic fields for youth, championing upgrades to existing fields and facilities, co-founding the Foundation for the Future at Menlo-Atherton High School and successfully raising money for a new chemistry lab, and coaching youth soccer, baseball, football, basketball and track and field.

"He really worked hard for this community," said Mayor Lee Duboc, a former Parks and Recreation commissioner.

At Ms. Duboc's request, the council remembered Mr. Harrison with a moment of silence at the February 24 meeting.

Mr. Harrison and other sports and recreation fans scored a major achievement in 2001, when they helped pass Measure T, a $38 million bond measure for funding recreation projects such as renovating parks and the Burgess gymnasium and swimming pool. Several of the projects have been completed, while others are in progress.

One of Mr. Harrison's allies on the Measure T campaign was his daughter, Sarah Sorensen, who praised his work and the bond as helping to bring recreation opportunities to many children who might not otherwise have them.

Mr. Harrison was born in San Mateo and ran track and field at both Los Altos High School and San Jose State University. He earned a master's degree in education from San Francisco State University.

After living in such far-flung locations as Sierra Leone and Ethiopia while teaching with the Peace Corps, he moved to Menlo Park with his wife, Mavis, in 1973. He worked in the family silversmith business, Peninsula Plating Works in Palo Alto, and also found time for plenty of coaching, including teams that his daughter and son, Jonathan, played on.

"When there weren't fields for girls' soccer, Dad went out and tried to find them," Ms. Sorensen said, adding that her father also helped start a girls California Youth Soccer Association league on the Peninsula to supplement existing programs and make sure soccer was available year-round.

After Mr. Harrison sold the silversmith business in 2002, he resumed his original career as a teacher, working as a substitute at Menlo-Atherton High School and other area schools, Ms. Sorensen said.

Some people might balk at substitute-teaching high school students, but Ms. Sorensen said her father thrived on it. At 6 foot 3, "he had a commanding presence and wasn't willing to take flak," she said. "He knew how to joke with them and how to draw the line."

At Mr. Harrison's last Parks and Recreation Commission meeting in January, he gave a speech about his reasons for becoming active in the city that Mr. Zussman said he found inspirational.

"He said he remembered years ago taking his kids to the park," Mr. Zussman said. "He said, 'Someone built this because someone had an idea. I'd like to be involved in that.'"

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