June 5, 2007

DAR honors Jim Zetterquist, Karen Bode

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

The Los Gatos branch of the Daughters of the Revolution recently honored Willow Glen’s Jim Zetterquist for historic preservation and Almaden Valley’s Karen Bode for community service at the Terraces in Los Gatos.

Jim Zetterquist accepts the DAR medal of honor from Los Gatos branch DAR regent Kristin Khanna. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

“Today’s meeting is a very special meeting,” said Los Gatos Branch DAR regent Kristin Khanna. “We have a guest who was a speaker in March 2006 from the San Jose Preservation Action Council. He is here to receive one of the highest awards awarded by DAR. Last year there were only seven of these awards presented by all 300 chapters in the state of California.”

Preservation advocate
Zetterquist received a certificate of recognition for his efforts in historical preservation from National DAR as well as a medal of honor.

He is the former president of the Preservation Action Council [PAC] where he still serves on the board but his achievements for protecting history are many. He has served on the board of the San Jose Historical Museum Association, San Jose Historic Landmarks Commission, and has helped preserve and restore the Fallon House and Peralta Adobe. He also was a commissioner on the San Jose Planning Commission where he continued to support historic projects. To pay tribute to his ancestors who helped establish California, he is an active supporter of a re-creation of the first State House. And his knowledge of San Jose’s early history is just as impressive.

“Jim’s relentless advocacy for historic preservation has made him an admired leader in our community,” said PAC San Jose President Joseph Melehan. “He is an inspiration for me and for many others. This status has not been easy to come by. Our local political and developmental sectors have become preservationists’ adversaries rather than allies. Jim works hard to build a positive and inclusive preservation environment. He is a pragmatic champion delivering the message that preservation is good for business.”

Zetterquist’s fight for preservation continues. Both he and Melehan were advocates to save IBM’s Advanced Research Building 25 that is an important part of Silicon Valley’s history.

Community service
Almaden resident Karen Bode received the DAR’s community service award.

“Karen has done a tremendous amount of volunteer work,” said DAR parliamentarian Sue Bergtholdt. “One of her main projects has been through the Assistance League Operation School Bell which she started while she was at Simonds Elementary School.”

In 2001, Bode volunteered with the Assistant League, a nonprofit organization that provides service projects to the local community. She has been active in all six of their philanthropic projects but took the roll of chairperson for the AL’s largest project, Operation School Bell the past six years. The project provided two sets of school uniforms to 2,200 disadvantaged students in San Jose Unified and Franklin McKinley School Districts in 2005.

“Assistance League of San Jose has been recognized this past year as an outstanding philanthropic organization by the San Jose City Council and the National Association of Fundraising Professionals,” said AL President Judith Demko. “Much of the credit for these awards goes to Karen Bode for her outstanding work and community service through Operation School Bell. She exemplifies the best in volunteerism and community service.”

DAR
The DAR was founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The volunteer women’s service organization is dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history and securing Americans’ futures through better education for children.

The California State Society, organized in 1891, is comprised of approximately 8,200 women ages 18-100-plus. Membership in the Society provides opportunities to honor American heritage, preserve family and local histories, promote the celebration of national holidays, support national defense, enjoy the member-owned buildings in Washington, D.C. and to form friendships with others who “share the love of God, home and country.”

The Los Gatos chapter of the DAR was organized in 1929 welcoming women 18 and over who can prove lineal, bloodline from a man or woman who aided in achieving American independence such as signers of the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States, military service or civil and patriotic service. Khanna and Bergtholdt collected documentation to DAR National for Zetterquist and Bode’s awards.