More than 300 people filled the Los Altos Community Center Friday to celebrate the life of former mayor Roy Lave. Lave, who died June 22, began his longtime community involvement as a two-term council member in the 1970s and 1980s.
Another former mayor, Mary Prochnow, served as master of ceremonies for a lineup of speakers that included Town Crier co-publisher Dennis Young, a mentee and friend of Lave’s since the 1970s; former city manager Arne Croce; Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian; former mayor King Lear; and Lave’s daughter, Jill Johnston.
Speaker after speaker noted that Lave was the greatest community builder in the history of the city, and that his influence was evident in numerous improvements citywide.
Among his accomplishments, Lave spearheaded campaigns for open space and a new community theater. He led the formation of Los Altos Community Foundation. As a Rotary Club of Los Altos member, he helped start the Rotary AIDS Foundation in the early 1990s to battle the disease and its stigma.
The event was relentlessly upbeat, with a slide show of family photos, a guest book and photo oportunity with Lave’s image, and a song written by Los Altos Stage Company president Vicki Reeder: “He deserved a special rave – the very best was Roy Lave.”
