A moment of sweet sadness initiated proceedings at the Sept. 26 Portola Valley Town Council meeting when Mayor Ted Driscoll presented resident Mary Smith with a proclamation honoring the memory of her late husband Rodney.
Mr. Smith, the former chief executive of San Jose-based Altera Corp. and a native of Oldham, England, died May 25, 2007, in a bicycling accident on Sand Hill Road.
The proclamation noted the Smiths’ gifts of good spirits, time and money, including assistance in organizing and conducting town cleanup days twice a year for five years, and a major gift to the town for the purchase of open space.
Other beneficiaries of the Smiths’ philanthropy include the Hidden Villa farm and wilderness preserve in Los Altos, the Alzheimer’s Association, the Peninsula Open Space Trust, and Habitat for Humanity.
The proclamation also recalled Mr. Smith’s passion for collecting and racing vintage race cars and “often finishing in first place.” He raced locally — at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey and Infineon Raceway in Sonoma — and in Europe.
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