Glenda Bartel Derman
April 1, 1936-Aug. 3, 2019
Menlo Park and Tracy, California

Glenda peacefully completed her journey on Saturday, Aug. 3rd after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. It’s hard to summarize a busy and fruitful life like hers in a few short paragraphs, but her relatives and friends will remember her as a vibrant person with strong opinions and an active intellect. She was born in San Francisco in April 1936 and lived most of her life on the Peninsula. Having attended Las Lomitas School as a young girl, she delighted in seeing our son attend the same school 35 years later. Glenda was very proud to have attended UC Berkeley, receiving both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, majoring in Journalism. She began her career at Crown Zellerbach and then became the Director of Volunteer Programs for the California Hospital Association. She carried on her dedication to volunteering when she became the Director of Volunteer Programs at the California Heart Association. After the birth of her son Dan, Glenda developed a class in volunteer management and taught at Canada, Foothill, and San Mateo Junior Colleges over a number of years. Presented with the challenge of refocusing her career, Glenda completely changed her focus and re-educated herself as a consultant in the semiconductor business. Working at Gnostic Concepts, a division of McGraw Hill, she managed a group of professionals to produce a number of technical reports for her clients. When an opportunity came to work for the semiconductor industry’s leading publication, Electronic Engineering Times, she wrote feature articles for the magazine and earned the opportunity to have a weekly column, called Passive Activity, that she was always pleased to find hanging on the bulletin boards of many of her clients. She also undertook a project to write the history of the semiconductor industry and published a book called “Connectors & Interconnections Handbook” that became the standard of the industry. In retirement, she became a Master Gardener who worked with schools on the Peninsula to get students involved in gardening projects. She also worked joyfully with the Silicon Valley Chapter of the San Francisco Symphony to introduce elementary school children to the joy of classical music. Her lifelong interests in gardening, opera, classical music, reading, cooking, and horseback riding gave her great pleasure. She took great pride in maintaining many of her early friendships for over 60 years. She leaves her husband Irwin of 50 years, her son Dan, daughter-in-law Sarah, and two wonderful granddaughters, Charlotte and Margaret, as well as her brothers Arthur, John, and David. She also accepted Thuy, a Vietnamese refugee, as a member of her family, along with her two daughters, Julie and Emily. In lieu of flowers, please do something nice for an organization or person of your choice. Please keep her in your memory.