\u201cRod was a friend and mentor and someone who could see both the big picture of the big, complicated policy issues that affect all of us, but also the most, intimate, simplest things,\u201d San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cHe always encouraged me to get home and kiss my kids goodnight. He always put people at the center of his work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mahan said Diridon, Sr.\u2019s impact, optimism and his faith in people rippled out to city halls, classrooms, community organizations, and neighborhoods across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew that mobility meant opportunity, and he spent his life making sure that everyone \u2026 had access to that opportunity by fighting for a world-class transit system,\u201d Mahan said. \u201cHe understood that progress is not only measured by what we build, but also by what we preserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other speakers included San Jose Councilmember Michael Mulcahy, Rod Diridon, Jr., Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee, Supervisor Susan Ellenberg,\u00a0 former Supervisor Ken Yeager, Mineta\u00a0 Transportation Institute Executive Director Karen Philbrick, Congressmember Zoe Lofgren and many more who honored a humble but larger than life man who touched all who knew him.<\/p>\n
Yeager said Diridon Sr. was a man of principle. In 1979, while serving on the Board of Supervisors, he voted to pass an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing and employment despite it being controversial. His vote led to him losing the California State Senate race in April 1980. Yeager said\u00a0 Diridon did not regret his vote, believing \u201cif you don\u2019t vote your conscience, you\u2019re not worth a damn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lofgren said, via video, when they served together on the County Board of Supervisors there were initially some \u201cscratchy\u201d times. But that faded and they worked together on numerous projects including\u00a0 saving the county hospital from closing and encouraging the transit district to expand the light rail system.<\/p>\n
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The U.S. Navy Color Guard presented an American flag to Rod Diridon Sr.\u2019s, wife Gloria Duffy. Photo by Lorraine Gabbert.<\/p>\n
\u201cRod was public spirited. He did so much for our community while serving on the board for not only the hospital, health services, civil rights, transit, the environment,\u201d Lofgren said. \u201cHe was really a tremendous public servant. When his term was up, he didn\u2019t just fade away. He started the Mineta Transportation Institute. It made a huge impact.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to serving on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, Diridon, Sr. ran the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University and was president of the San Jose Rotary Club. He chaired the Transit Cooperative Research Program, a branch of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and served on the California High Speed Rail Authority Board and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.<\/p>\n
Like his father, Diridon, Sr.<\/a> worked on the railroad to pay his way through college, working weekends shifts as a brake man. Hailed as the \u201cFather of Modern Transit,\u201d he transformed Silicon Valley\u2019s transit system.<\/p>\n His\u00a0daughter Mary Diridon said her family received an outpouring of condolences, support and admiration for her father.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been incredible to hear the stories, especially of how he helped people that he never told anyone about,\u201d she told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cPeople are telling their stories about the impact that he had on them. Seeing it\u2026 has been really heartwarming.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of her favorite memories with her father were fishing and hiking together. She admired his commitment to serving the community.<\/p>\n \u201cHis spirit of service was such a part of my upbringing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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