Remembering Stephen Kalthoff, former Zone 7 board member and local vintner

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Stephen Kalthoff, a former four-term director for the Zone 7 Water Agency and a third-generation vintner in the Livermore Valley, died earlier this spring at the age of 80.

Stephen Kalthoff held a number of public service positions in his life, including as an elected official with the Zone 7 Water Agency. (Contributed photo)

A longtime Livermore resident, Kalthoff worked a long career in the train industry while also growing his grandfather’s Escondido Vineyard. He was elected to the Zone 7 board from 1994 to 2010 as part of a long community service record that also included time as president of the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association.

“Steve Kalthoff was a pleasure to work with on the Zone 7 board. He served with heart and with the future of this Valley uppermost in his mind. Steve brought to the board a firm grasp of the business of water as well as water’s importance in both agriculture and municipal use,” said current Zone 7 Director Sarah Palmer, who served alongside Kalthoff earlier in her tenure.

Calling him a “renaissance man in every sense of the word,” Kalthoff’s family detailed his life and achievements in an obituary on the Weekly’s Lasting Memories page. He died on March 31 following a heart attack.

Born in San Francisco and raised in San Leandro, Kalthoff earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco and a master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he acted on a lifelong love of trains and began a 25-year-plus career with Consolidated Freightways in Menlo Park, according to his obituary.

“During this period, he also developed his grandfather’s ‘Escondido Vineyard’ into a successful business, selling grapes to Wente and several smaller wineries in the area for decades. As a family business, we spent many weekends and summers working the land; we camped, hunted, moved irrigation pipe and picked grapes,” his family remembered.

Kalthoff served in the community in a variety of ways, including on the South Livermore Valley Development Planning Committee, president of the winegrowers association and deacon at Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco’s North Beach District.

And perhaps his most-visible public service locally, Kalthoff was elected to the Zone 7 Board of Directors for 16 years, which included two turns as board president, before he opted to step away and not seek re-election in 2010.

“Steve Kalthoff’s business background, financial acumen and service on Zone 7’s Finance Committee provided invaluable contributions to the Agency in matters of fiscal management, responsibility and accountability. His financial acumen along with his integrity and dry wit were much appreciated by everyone on staff,” Zone 7 officials told the Weekly.

He is survived by two daughters and five grandchildren.