By Tim Hunt
E-mail Tim Hunt
About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...
(More)About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in addition to writing editorials for more than 15 years. I have served as a director of many non-profits in the Valley and the broader Bay Area and currently serve as chair of Teen Esteem and on the advisory board of Shepherd?s Gate. I also served as founding chair of Heart for Africa and have travelled to Africa seven times to serve on mission trips. My wife, Betty Gail, has taught at Amador Valley High (from where we both graduated) since 1981. She and I both graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, as did both of my parents and my three siblings. Given that Cal tradition, our daughter went south to the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in international relations. Since graduation, she has taken three mission trips and will be serving in the Philippines for nine months starting in September.
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Las Positas College and its parent district lost the services of long-time trustee and retired dean Barbara Mertes this week when the board accepted her resignation.
She had served as a trustee since 2000, winning election to represent Livermore on the seven-member board after she retired as a senior member of the district staff.
Barbara served as the founding dean of what has become Las Positas when it was established in 1975 as the valley campus of Chabot College. Las Positas became a stand-alone institution in 1988 and has grown steadily since, particularly since the campus has been largely built out after district voters passed a huge bond a few years ago.
She has a deep love of the arts and it is so fitting that the performing arts center at Las Positas is named in her honor.
It's been a very challenging year for Barbara who lost her husband, David Mertes, chancellor emeritus of the community college system, earlier this fall. They were married 42 years.
Her retirement is well deserved after decades of service to the most accessible higher education system in the valley and the county. Barbara can be proud of her legacy, particularly at Las Positas.
