Gary Anthony Glenn's Obituary
Gary Anthony Glenn (March 21, 1937 – December 17, 2018)
Gary Anthony Glenn, a longtime resident of Albany, CA, passed away at home on December 17, 2018 at the age of 81. His partner of 56 years, Evelyn, was by his side, as were their three children, Sara, Antonia and Patrick. Born in San Diego on March 21, 1937 to Ethel and William Glenn, Gary grew up in Los Angeles, where he attended Dorsey High School and then UCLA. While enrolled at the UC Berkeley Law School, he met undergraduate Evelyn Nakano, and they were married three years later.
In the early 1960s, when the Freedom Riders were jailed for challenging segregation in the South, Gary was part of an activist campaign that toured college campus radio stations making appeals for their release. In 1962, Evelyn and Gary relocated to Cambridge, MA so that Evelyn could pursue her PhD in Social Relations at Harvard University. Gary earned his MALD in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
There has been a long-running joke among even Gary’s closest family and friends that they did not know what Gary did for a living. This has been due partly to Gary’s modesty and ability to be secretive, but also to the fact that he always emphasized and promoted the professional accomplishments of his partner, Evelyn. He was deeply invested in all facets of her work as a groundbreaking sociologist and provided valuable feedback and editing to all of her publications.
At the same time, Gary established a long and productive career helping to create, develop, promote, fund and manage non-profit organizations. He was a co-founder of ACCION International, an international development foundation that pioneered micro-lending for small entrepreneurs throughout the world. ACCION International is now the largest multi-national organization of its type, and has reached tens of millions of families and entrepreneurs in 40
countries.
Following his work with ACCION International, Gary co-founded the Latin American Teaching Fellowships program at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, which provided teachers and other resources to universities in developing countries, especially in South and Central America. This program became a major US non-governmental source of assistance to higher education over a 20-year period. Subsequently, Gary became President of the Massachusetts Centers of Excellence Corporation, which focused on the stimulation of new entrepreneurial efforts in marine science, biotechnology and polymer science. The Centers of Excellence organization developed a number of productive and successful joint projects with Hawai‘i non-profit entities.
During the 1980s, Gary and Evelyn were active in the redress campaign for Japanese Americans who had been forcibly removed from the West Coast and incarcerated in concentration camps during World War II, as Evelyn and her entire family had been; this campaign successfully achieved redress payments for all living survivors of the camps, as well as an apology on behalf of the nation from the US Congress. During this time, Gary also served as President of the New England Japanese American Citizens League.
In 1990, the Glenn family relocated to Albany, CA when Evelyn took a faculty position at UC Berkeley. Starting in 1997, Gary served in various capacities, including Vice-President and member of the Board of Directors, with the Partners in Development Foundation (PIDF), which is dedicated to environmental protection as well as improving preschool and K-12 education in Hawai’i. He served as Project Director for three large-scale, federally funded educational projects that involved partnerships among PIDF, the Malama ‘Āina Foundation, the University of Hawai‘i, and other Hawai‘i entities. All these projects successfully enhanced educational opportunities for Native Hawaiian students.
Gary’s greatest joy in life was his family, which in addition to his beloved partner Evelyn Nakano Glenn included children Sara Jotoku, Antonia Glenn and Patrick Glenn; sons-in-law Paul Nolan and Scott Horstein; grandchildren Kiyo and Koji; and brother Donald Glenn and sister-in-law Janis Glenn. An avid music lover, Gary enjoyed being a subscriber to the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Ballet, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the Berkeley Symphony. A skilled tennis player and enthusiastic spectator, he was able to attend three out of the four major tournaments: the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Gary was a devoted fan of all Boston sports teams, and particularly relished seeing the Red Sox win four World Series championships since 2004. One of Gary’s favorite places in the world was Yosemite National Park, where he had worked summers during college and once served as an Assistant Night Manager at the Ahwahnee Hotel during a winter break, and where decades later he returned annually for Easter vacations with his family. He also taught his family a deep appreciation for the genius of Laurel and Hardy. A voracious reader of newspapers, magazines and books, Gary maintained a remarkable knowledge of politics and world affairs.
For many years, the Glenn family has been active in the Berkeley Buddhist Temple, where Gary was a member of the Sangha Singers. In the last few years of his life, Gary very much enjoyed writing a memoir of his childhood in Los Angeles, particularly the effects of World War II on his family and community. Generous, loving, wise, compassionate, hilarious, brilliant and truly unique, Gary will continue to be celebrated and honored in the hearts of his family and friends.
A memorial service for Gary Anthony Glenn will be held on Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple, 2121 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704.
Charitable donations in Gary’s name may be made to the Partners in Development Foundation:
https://www.pidf.org/.
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