Lewis J. Vanderzyl - Longtime RUSD Educator, Administrator and Board Member Passes
.JPG)
It is with a very heavy heart that RUSD notes the
passing of Lewis J. Vanderzyl, one of RUSD’s most dear and treasured family
members. Lewis spent decades as a teacher and then administrator in RUSD
schools, before serving 17 years as a Board Member.
“He was a true educator, who never forgot he was a
teacher first,” said Kathy Allavie, current Clerk for the RUSD Board, who
served with Vanderzyl before his retirement in 2011. “He was always kind,
always a gentleman, and always thought of the good of our district first and
foremost.”
Vanderzyl may be best remembered as the Board
President who, in 1998, ignored the national controversy that swarmed the
District and fought vehemently to name RUSD’s new school, in an affluent
suburban neighborhood, after Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I am very grateful for the legacy he has left:
service, leadership, and courage to do what’s right,” said RUSD Superintendent
Dr. David Hansen. “Lew touched many lives over the years. His leadership and
friendship will certainly be missed...but remembered.”
Vanderzyl was born in Riverside in 1929 and attended
Palm School, which is now the Riverside Adult School. Coincidentally, it is
also the current location for RUSD Board Meetings.
“Lew was not only an instructional leader in the
Riverside Unified School District and a man of enormous curiosity and
intelligence, but one of my best friends,” said former Board Member Chuck
Beaty. “We worked together and we served together. What a giant of a man!”
After teaching for many years, he became principal of
Central Middle School before eventually serving on the Board. Overall,
Vanderzyl worked in education for five decades.
Current Board Member Tom Hunt recalled the tutoring
Vanderzyl gave him when he joined the Board. “I will always recall with
fondness and respect the example set for how one is to serve their community by
the civic leadership shown by Lew Vanderzyl,” said Hunt.
A memorial service will be held March 10, 2018 at 2pm
at the Lewis J. Vanderzyl Multipurpose Hall at Central Middle School, at 4795 Magnolia Ave. in Riverside.