1976 I met Bob Butler when he was on the planning commission. I wanted to open a small business selling only Redwood, the property on Sunol Blvd was a vacant parcel, told Bob I could buy a 9’x12’ to drop on the ground and pay to use the restroom at an adjoining garden nursery. I could only afford $300. a month in rent so it was a 9,000sf vacant parcel.
Bob was singularly a supporter, others on the commission wondered, but Bob said let him try. I dropped the building on bare ground dug a trench for electrical hookups and with my wife and one year old child hoped for the best.
Bob & I occasionally ran into each other over the years, I always mentioned that without his support my dream wouldn’t have happened, he always chuckled, then asked how I was doing.
Bob is someone that “left a mark”!
Gonna miss him.
Tom Richert, Richert Lumber Co., since 1976