Event Honoring NVUSD’s Bob Hansen set for Oct. 15

By JAY GOETTING
Register Correspondent

The room in which the board of trustees of the Napa Valley Unified School District meets will be dedicated to the memory of Robert A. Hansen on Wednesday, October 15.

Hansen was superintendent of the NVUSD from June 1976 until his retirement in 1988. He died in November 2006 at the age of 84.

The recently renovated boardroom is the updated version of the facility in which Hansen and trustees, administrators, students, faculty and staff and members of the public did the business of the district for more than a dozen years.

“I’m so pleased,” said Helen Hansen, the late superintendent’s wife. She and the couple’s two sons will attend, as will friends from Fresno, where Hansen served as assistant superintendent prior to coming to Napa.

“Bob was a very unique man,” said Donna Heine, a long-time board member who held office when Hansen was hired. “He was not properly recognized (at the time of his death). He needed to be acknowledged for the person he was.”

Heine added it could be argued the entire administration building at Lincoln and Jefferson streets should bear Hansen’s name.

Current NVUSD Superintendent John Glaser said the evening event would provide an opportunity for friends, staff and others who thought highly of Hansen to get together. “This is really a fitting tribute,” said Glaser. “I don’t know too many people who are really comfortable in a boardroom, but Bob was.”

Glaser said this is essentially the same room where Hansen and the various trustees held sway, although it was expanded during renovations after the 2000 earthquake.

Hansen helped forge the Napa Valley Unified Education Foundation, which still serves as a major fundraising vehicle for local school projects and programs. Following Hansen’s passing, a memorial fund was set up to help pay for maintenance and operation of the District Auditorium. Glaser said this event would provide an opportunity to donate, adding a $500 contribution buys a chair in the auditorium.

Since a quorum of the board will be on hand, board president Frances Ortiz-Chavez will call the meeting to order as an official meeting.

The public is invited to the hour-long ceremony that begins at 6:30 p.m. Former Hansen colleague Harrell Miller will serve as master of ceremonies, and a plaque and picture of Hansen will be unveiled. Family and friends will be recognized and there will be an opportunity for them to say a few words.

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