"Volunteering for the arts has been a satisfying experience for me," said my wife Wendy in an interview when she was Chairman of the Board of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. "I've learned I can effect change. If you feel strongly enough, giving time and energy to a cause is easy and a joy."
) Dorothy Sterling, Wendy Sterling & Walter Sterling (1939). |
Wendy Paine Sterling was born March 25, 1939 in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated from Bishop School in La Jolla, California in 1957, then attended Mills College in Oakland, California as an art-history major, prior to our marriage June 20, 1959. At Mills, Wendy sang in a trio and swam on the Mill's synchronized swimming team.
Other than Junior League, an organization that mentors women in becoming community activists, Wendy had little time for volunteerism until our children were in school, and then rarely did she miss one of their recitals or sporting events.
) Senator Barry Goldwater, a close friend of Wendy's parents, on a stop-over in Tacoma during his 1964 Presidential Campaign, (from left, Scott, Wendy, Senator Goldwater, me and Sterling). Coincidentally, I was a 1964 Washington State Republican delegate and attended the Republican National Convention in San Francisco. |
) Wendy leaving for her first Junior League meeting, (From left, Scott, me, Sterling and Wendy). |
Through Junior League, Wendy became a volunteer with KPEC Public Television in Tacoma and later a member of its Board of Directors. She was also instrumental in setting up a children's museum at the Tacoma Art Museum.
In the late 1960s, Wendy helped establish a residency for the Joffrey Ballet at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma and the following year was one of the founders of Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet.
From the beginning, Wendy chose to concentrate her volunteer efforts in cultural activities. She is a firm believer that a thriving community must have a strong cultural basis, as well as provide a helping hand for those in need.
From the mid 1970s through the 1980s, Wendy volunteered with both the Tacoma Philharmonic and Tacoma Actors Guild and served as a member of their Boards of Directors and Executive Committees. She was also appointed to the Tacoma Cultural Council, a committee selected from community leaders to act as a catalyst for cultural development.
At the end of the 1987/1988 ballet season, Arthur Jacobus, the ballet's Chief Executive Officer stated, " On June 30,1988,a very special individual will end an unprecedented three years as Chairman of the Board. Wendy Griffin has overseen the near doubling of the ballet's balanced budget, the production of a major new full-length ballet, the national release of a feature-length movie, a triumphant Kennedy Center debut, the successful matching of a National Endowment for the Arts Challenge Grant, the establishment of a cash reserve fund, and many other accomplishments too numerous to mention. The total integrity, absolute dedication and impeccable style Wendy brought to the job will leave an indelible mark on the organization. She has set a standard of leadership excellence which will be an inspiration to her successors."
For over forty years, Wendy has remained active with the ballet where she now serves as a board member emeritus.
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In addition to volunteering, Wendy modeled professionally into her forties.
In 1988, Governor Booth Gardner appointed Wendy to the Washington State Arts Commission; two years later, she was Chairman. She was appointed to the National Endowment for the Arts, Dance on Tour Panel, in 1991. A year after that, she was selected to participate in the American Leadership Forum, a year-long training program to help community leaders enhance their communication and leadership skills, which included an Outward Bound wilderness experience in Colorado. In addition, she served as Vice-Chairman, then Chairman, of the Tacoma chapter of the American Leadership Forum.
) Wendy chairing a meeting of the Washington State Arts Commission, (from the WSAC newsletter, September 1990). |
) Wendy in Kobe Japan representing Washington State at the opening of a State Arts Commission exhibition. With Wendy, is Jean Gardner, wife of Washington State Governor Booth Gardner. |
In 1992, Wendy was selected to participate in Leadership America, a national program of the Foundation for Women's Resources (for women with impressive accomplishments who represented a broad range of leaders throughout the U.S.). Also in 1992 she helped incorporate the City of Lakewood, as a member of the Steering Committee and became involved with the YMCA, serving on its Board of Directors. In the two years after that, Wendy joined the Board of Greater Lakes Mental Health Center; became Vice-Chairman, then Chairman of the Board from 1998 through 2000. In addition, she worked with their Capital Campaign to help raise money for a new center.
In 1994, Wendy was appointed to the Governor's Mansion Foundation, a nonprofit statewide organization that maintains the public rooms of the Governor's mansion; and she served as Area Chairman (Tacoma/Pierce County), then President of the Foundation from 1996 through 1998.
In 1995, a Tacoma woman's study group, the Aloha Club, invited Wendy to become a member. She was elected President in 2000.
In 1996, she was a founding member of Forward Together, a group formed to determine how, through innovative public and private funding of capital projects, the quality of life in Tacoma and Pierce County could be sustained, improved, and expanded.
In 1998, she was appointed to the Board of the Tacoma Art Museum and served on their exhibitions, development, finance, nominating, and executive committees; she served as President and Chairman of the Board 1993 to 1997, and Co-Chairman of the Capital Campaign to build a new museum 1999 to 2002. Wendy continues to serve as a board member emeritus.
) Campaign co-chairs Jim and Wendy Griffin along with Architect Antoine Predock at TAM's ground breaking, Jan 25 2001. |
) Jim and Wendy Griffin, Congressman Norm Dicks, Architect Antoine Predock and Museum President Kathryn Van Wagenen cutting ribbon at completion of construction, May 3rd 2003. |
Our first grandchild was born in 1988 and eleven more, eight boys and four girls, followed over the ensuing thirteen years. With the arrival of grandchildren, Wendy took up knitting again and a blanket awaited the birth of each grandchild. Within a few years, we were back attending recitals and sporting events.
In 2007 our grandson, Nicholas, (Sterling's son) graduated from high school and entered Whitman College. The following year, Tyler (Sterling's second son) entered the University of Oregon and Jamie (Scott's son) entered Redlands College. In 2009, Malcolm (Scott's second son) will enter a yet to be named college or university.
) Family picture taken at Whitney's home on Fox Island, near Gig Harbor, fall of 2006. |
From 2005 through 2007, Wendy worked tirelessly to bring a $10-million Hope Center to the City of Lakewood. This center, a partnership between Clover Park School District and the Boys and Girls Club of South Puget Sound (BGCSPS), became a reality in 2008. Wendy's passion and dedication were directly related to a commitment she gave to a dying friend. According to Judy Hosea, VP for Development, BGCSPS, "Wendy helped recruit the right people to the committee, set up tours and meetings with individuals that could help and closed many of our significant gifts. Wendy did this first in support of her friend as Wendy values her friendships above all. Wendy also did this for the children and families in the community that would benefit for years to come."
Wendy has received the following awards: Evergreen State Society Award in 1991, a statewide recognition program to strengthen public appreciation for the value of Washington's cultural recreational resources; Tacoma Arts Commission Excellence in the Arts Award in 1992, presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the arts in the city of Tacoma; Junior League Sustainer of the Year Award in 1993, for community improvement through effective action and leadership of trained volunteers; and the Murray Medal in 1994, awarded by the Tacoma Art Museum as special recognition to those who have served with exceptional loyalty and dedication.
When presenting to Wendy the Evergreen State Society Award in 1991, the Chairman of the Seattle Foundation, Jane Williams, quoted Executive Director of the Washington State Arts Commission, John Firman: "[Wendy] has managed to bring to the table both the concerns and interests of the citizens of Tacoma, and all the citizens of the state. Wendy exemplifies the definition of leadership through volunteerism, and is an invaluable asset to the commission and its constituents. Wendy has the capacity and ability to lead in the most difficult of times, as demonstrated by the changes she has wrought at the organizations on whose boards she serves. She has a tremendous understanding of how to balance the complex relationships between pragmatism, philosophy, and politics. Her skill in negotiating problematic issues and moderating divergent opinions among her colleagues on the board is superb. Wendy's vision and imagination will be a valuable contribution to the state as it enters the 21st century."
In 2006, Wendy was diagnosed with Liver cancer and told she might not survive. Fortunately, the surgeon was able to remove the cancer before it metastasized. Two years later Wendy developed breast cancer. The tumor, which had invaded the lymph nodes, was removed and then she under-went chemo therapy and radiation. According to her doctors, the two cancers were not related - just bad luck.
The cliché, "behind every successful man is a good woman", has never been truer than with Wendy. Twice during our fifty years of marriage, I experienced a business reversal that would have seriously affected our life had she not pushed or pulled me out of my malaise. Wendy has never failed to stand by me and support whatever endeavor I undertook, whether she was in agreement or not - other than when I used up eight of my proverbial nine "cat lives" during my floatplane piloting years, when she stopped flying with me altogether.
No husband could have a more loving and supportive wife. I am grateful every day for my good fortune to have found Wendy.
) Wendy and Jim (Palm Desert, California 2008). |