PASSAGES: IN MEMORIUM

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San Diego's eastern region lost several prominent newsmakers in the past year,
among them:

Jack Hardebeck, M.D.:  Former chief of staff for Grossmont
Hospital and member of the Grossmont Healthcare District board, Hardebeck spent
nearly half a century serving East County.  A family physician and surgeon,
he chaired the Grossmont Hospital Foundation's philanthropy committee in 1998
and 1999.  In recognition of his efforts, Hardebeck received the Foundation's
Heart of Gold Award in 2004 and the Volunteer of Distinction Award in 2008. 

He has been called a "giant in the East county healthcare community" by Jim
Stieringer, 2008 president of the GHD board.  "His contributions as a
family physician, philanthropist and healthcare district board member may never
be equaled." 

Mike Thometz:  Founder and leader of the Mountain Empire
Resources and Information Taskforce (MERIT),  Mike Thometz
became known as an outspoken advocate of backcountry residents supporting growth
at a rural pace.  An environmentalist and conservationist, he served on
multiple land use subcommittees and helped bring information online to educate
East County community members on backcountry planning and groundwater issues.  He
was also active in Quail Unlimited and the Enviromental Working Group of the
San Diego Foundation. 

Born in Oregon, Thometz earned an engineering degree from Stanford and a masters
degree in business from Harvard.  He served in the U.S. Navy and worked
in the banking industry before opening a trucking firm and later, serving as
operations manager for IMS Recycling Services.  A Campo resident, he served
as an organizer of the MERIT Recycling Center and a member of Campo's VFW Post
2080.  But he was best known for holding public officials' feet to the
fire. On February 13, Thometz, 69, died of a heart attack while attending a
state of the county speech in Balboa Theater. 

Karen Tucker:  Active in conservation efforts county-wide,
Tucker co-founded the Fallbrook Land Conservancy and the Center for Conservation
and Education Strategies.   

Formerly a science writer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she received a distinguished service award for
her work on the NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory project's education and outreach
program.  Tucker coauthored three astronomy books along with her husband,
Wallace.  A resident of Fallbrook, she died of cancer on December 11th.

Terry Ryan:  The former Grossmont Union High School
District superintendent died November 24 at his Rancho Bernardo home of a brain
tumor.  Ryan
had a 37-year career in education, serving in the Grossmont, Santee, Valley
Center and Bonsall School Districts as well as with the San Diego County Office
of Education. Although his tenure at the GUHSD was marked by controversy included
a labor dispute with the teacher's union, he has been praised for his support
of public education on other fronts.

"The passage of Prop H, the first bond in over 36 years, was due in no
small measure to his leadership and vision.  The students of the district
will benefit from new construction and renovations for many years to come,"
said GUHSD board member Dick Hoy.  Former GUHSD Board Chair Larry Urdahl
credited Ryan with formation of an East County Gang Task Force and the Grossmont
Education Foundation.  Ryan himself believed his greatest accomplishments
at the GUHSD were improved test scores and passage of the bond measure. 


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Comments

Dr. John ("Jack") Hardebeck

Jack Hardebeck will be especially missed by the Humanists of San Diego and East County. He was the first president of the first Humanist organization established in San Diego County.

The first San Diego chapter of the American Humanist Association was chartered in September 1954 by Edwin Wilson, executive director of the American Humanist Association. Wilson was minister of a Chicago church and had the support of Rev. Peter Sansome of San Diego, married to a daughter of Rev. E. Burdette Backus, third president of the American Humanist Association.

That original organization endured for fifteen years. Since then, a number of Humanist organizations have come and gone. Today the most active is the Humanist Fellowship of San Diego, website www.HFSD.info Jack Hardebeck was a valued member of this organization.

In East County, a significant contribution to the cause of human freedom was for eight years the Humanist Center, in Spring Valley. Most of the members of this group were Argentinian expatriates who fled the oppressive dictatorship in their homeland. When democracy was restored to Argentina following the Falklands War, they returned home and Spring Valley's Humanist Center was dissolved.

The SAN DIEGO UNION March 12 1989 reports on the use of DNA testing to reunite broken families in Argentina. With technology developed at the University of California, 58 children were restored to their families after they had been torn away from them by the dictatorship.

This testing process is expensive, and the Humanists in Spring Valley contributed greatly to making possible this practical expression of family values. Through the Humanists' efforts, thousands of dollars were raised to restore broken families.

Nilda Speziali, a nurse at Paradise Valley Hospital, was he hard working inspiration for the eight years of successful operation of East County's Humanist Center. Its contribution to human well being is worthy of honor and remembrance.

La Mesa's Dr. Jack Hardebeck contributed to the work of Grossmont Hospital and was a resident of East County whose entire life served human well-being. As the initiator of organized Humanism's presence in San Diego he opened the way for the many good works of the Humanists which has been carried forward since 1954. Dr. Jack Hardebeck is worthy of remembrance with thanks as a good man, a Humanist of special significance, and an East County resident whose life was a gift and a great benefit to our community.

Jack Hardebeck

Jack Hardebeck was a wonderful, compassionate person with a down-to-earth way of practicing medicine. He was so good to every patient and never left anyone without a way of getting needed medications even if they could not afford it. He loved easing people's pain, making them feel safe and healthy and helping them get through the tough times. He was a real doctor with his patient's best interests at heart. He was a gift to our community.