Jane Braun: She Pitched The Press for Foothill Pres

A passion for the arts has guided me through my life. As years have gone by, I’ve participated in things that have interested me, and the arts have been of paramount importance,” says Jane (Tessitor) Braun, a founding staff member of Foothill Presbyterian Hospital as its public relations manager.

A founding member indeed, Braun was one of the first employees to work for the hospital prior to its opening in 1973. Answering a newspaper ad for the role of public relations coordinator, Braun was hired by FPH administrator Don Adams. FULL STORY

Barbara Vanderhoop: Energy & Enthusiasm

Barbara was raised in Los Angeles, born to an actress mother who worked as a dancer in the movies during the 1920s and 1930s. Barbara herself married young, raising four children in Culver City and Granada Hills while working as a nurse in a general surgeon’s office for 17 years.

After retiring, she continued to work one day a week for a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, allowing her to spend time with her first grandchild.

In 1984, a few years after she and her first husband divorced, Barbara’s life took a happily unexpected turn. While attending the wedding of mutual friends (fittingly, the groom was a McDonald’s franchisee), Barbara met Leonard Vanderhoop.

FULL STORY

The Van Vliets: A Couple Committed to Health

It’s true that a picture can say a thousand words.

Such is the case with a Norman Rockwell plate on display in Keith and Eileen Van Vliet’s Glendora living room. Featuring a new father and grandparents admiring a newborn in a hospital nursery, the plate is a fitting one for the Van Vliets to display for several reasons. Presented to Eileen Van Vliet upon her retirement, it commemorates Eileen’s career as a labor and delivery nurse.

It illustrates Keith Van Vliet’s service to Foothill Presbyterian Hospital as well as his interest in alternative medicine. And, it symbolizes the future, with the couple’s grandson currently pursuing admission to medical school.

Keith & Eileen Van Vliet: A Couple Committed to Health The Van Vliets met at a teen church group in Bell, California. Keith entered the U.S. Army Air Force, where he was planning to train as a fighter pilot. Eventually transferred to Victorville near the end of the war, he and Eileen married days after her 18th birthday. Living in Victorville through the end of World War II, the couple then lived with Keith’s parents for a few months, largely due to the post-war housing shortage. They eventually moved to Downey, with Keith building the first of three homes the couple has owned over the years.

FULL STORY

Bill and Joan Eldred: Loyal to Community

If you had to choose one word to describe Bill and Joan Eldred, it would have to be “loyal.”

They’ve been loyal to their alma mater, Occidental College, where they met after World War II. They’ve been loyal to their church, Glenkirk Presbyterian, for more than 35 years. And, married for more than 50 years, they’ve been loyal to each other.

What’s more, loyalty is the hallmark of their life story in Glendora and for the needs of their community and Foothill Presbyterian Hospital. Their support for the hospital has made a big difference in the development of this facility for the benefit of so many in our community.

FULL STORY

Morris L. Johnston Memorial

In loving memory of his son, Morris L. Johnston, M.D., former local philanthropist and real estate investor C. M. JOHNSTON donated $2.25 million and 11 acres of land in 1965 for the development of Foothill Presbyterian Hospital. In current dollars, that contribution would be the equivalent of ... $26,950,813

The Morris L. Johnston Memorial Story

Mary Elizabeth La Fetra: Renaissance Woman

Co-founder of a highly successful international business. A leader in her local community. A loving wife, mother and grandmother. An accomplished seamstress. A lifelong learner.

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"But if you had to pick just two words to describe my mother," says Mary La Fetra’s daughter, Sarah La Fetra Ludwick, "it would definitely be ‘renaissance woman.'"

Indeed, Mary Elizabeth "Betty" La Fetra (1909-1989) was a woman of many talents. Co-founder, along with her husband Clem, of Rain Bird Corporation, Betty was certainly an extraordinarily successful entrepreneur, a true pioneer in her field. Beginning the company in 1935 after their neighbor, Orton Englehardt, invented the first impact sprinkler, the La Fetras were a team in building Glendora-based Rain Bird, now the world’s leading manufacturer of irrigation systems. FULL STORY