James Mack Gerstley, whose colorful career ranged from borax mining in Death Valley to co-founding the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, died at home in Atherton on June 2. He was 99.
While Mr. Gerstley built his fortune in borax — think 20 Mule Team — he may have had his greatest impact after retiring in 1961.
Living in Woodside and then Atherton, Mr. Gerstley helped found the Asian Art Museum and contributed to numerous other artistic and cultural causes in the Bay Area and California. “He was a big leader in the community,” said Elizabeth Gerstley, his wife of 72 years.
Born in 1907 to an English father and a mother from San Francisco, he was brought up in London. After completing with honors the Tripos scientific program at Cambridge, he still was shy of a requirement for graduation. When his father gave him a choice of finishing Cambridge or taking a trip around the world, young James jumped at the trip, said his son, James Gerstley of Los Angeles.
By the time Mr. Gerstley reached Japan, he had run out of money. The junior Mr. Gerstley told of his father’s arrival in San Francisco in 1929: “He came on a straw pallet on a Japanese ship, and kept alive eating Hershey bars.”
In San Francisco, Mr. Gerstley worked for the Great Western Electric Chemical Co.; he also met Elizabeth Lilienthal. They were married in 1934 at Madeleine Russell’s house on Atherton Avenue in Atherton.
About the same time, Mr. Gerstley took a job in Los Angeles with Pacific Borax Co., where he became president in 1950. He continued to build the company, which later became the U.S. Borax & Chemical Co.; it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1957. Mr. Gerstley was inducted into the National Mining Hall of Fame in 2003. He even had a mineral, gerstleyite, named after him.
Mrs. Gerstley remembers their personal “Death Valley Days,” separate from the famous television series sponsored by the firm, which made borax and 20-mule teams famous as icons of the Wild West, with Ronald Reagan as the “Old Ranger.”
Mr. Gerstly was a wonderful leader and good at inspiring people with loyalty to the company, Mrs. Gerstley recalls. “He made it fun for them. They had horseback riding, and barbecues up the valley; they swam at night.”
Mr. Gerstley was also interested in history and wrote a book, “The History of Pacific Coast Borax,” which sometimes turns up on eBay.
After retiring and moving to Woodside, Mr. Gerstley remained active both culturally and recreationally. An accomplished fundraiser, he was intensely engaged in launching the Asian Art Museum and securing the Avery Brundage collection, which forms its core. Mayor Joseph Alioto appointed him to the Asian Art Commission, and he later became chair of the Asian Art Museum and Foundation.
His fundraising success in bringing an exhibit of famous terracotta warriors from Xian in China to San Francisco in 1975 earned him an invitation to one of the first tourist groups to visit China.
Mrs. Gerstley remembers vividly that people there had never seen westerners before. “At the zoo, people were not looking at pandas, they were looking at us,” she said.
She also remembers that her husband had the foresight to ask Stanford for help in preparing to give a speech at the trip’s farewell banquet. “He made the banquet speech — in Chinese,” she said proudly.
Mr. Gerstley was also a devoted golfer and avid fly fisherman; he was a member of the British Piscatorial Society. The Gerstleys kept horses, and he wrote “A History of the Shack Riders Club” about the Woodside horse group.
Mrs. Gerstley remembers going with him on fly-fishing trips around the world. She also remembers sitting around while he fished. In Scotland, for example, “We took tea sitting on the heath under umbrellas in the rain.”
Mr. Gerstley accumulated many other honors and accomplishments. He was a trustee of Pomona College and received an honorary doctorate there. He gave an extended oral biography to the Bancroft Library, and was named the “1989 Business Leader of the Year for the Arts” by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Gerstley is survived by his son, James Gerstley of Los Angeles; his daughter, Anne Pieper of Concord; a granddaughter; and two great-granddaughters.
Services are private.
The family suggests contributions to the Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St., San Francisco, CA 94102; Pomona College Scholarship Fund, 333 N. College Way, Claremont, CA 91711; or the Haas-Lilienthal House, 20007 Franklin St., San Francisco, CA 941009.
