Ralph and Elaine Lynn received the 2016 Community Awards Founder. Bob served in the U.S. Navy as a radio/radar operator in the Pacific at the end of World War II. At West Chester State University, Pennsylvania, he met and married Elaine Lester and after graduation they moved to California for his new job, working for the fund raising division of Reader's Digest. Their three children, Patricia, Ralph Jr. and Scott, were all born in California and attended Temperance Kutner (TK) Elementary School. Ralph and Elaine were active at TK as the Clovis Schools moved toward unification under the new Superintendent Dr. Floyd Buchanan. Early activities to support the Clovis Elementary schools included workshops to develop reading materials, raising money for school bonds, and support for individual PTA activities. Ralph served as President of the TK PTA and chairman of several committees. Elaine provided Cub Scout leadership for young neighborhood boys.
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In 1963 Ralph was elected to the Clovis Unified School District Governing Board. He served for 12 years. Ralph also served as the President of the Fresno County School Trustees Association, on the Fresno Grand Jury, and 30 active years, assuming various roles, in the Sanger Rotary Club.
Elaine has had a life long commitment to education- she taught 18 years in the Sanger Unified School District. She completed an MA in ART at Fresno State University (with distinction) in 1986, taught at FSU and wrote standards for, organized and taught the first gifted & Talented Program for Sanger Unified School District elementary and middle school students. She has been an active member of the Fig Tree Art Gallery for thirty-two years, served six years as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Fresno Art Museum as Education Chairman. She had her first exhibit at the Fresno Art Museum in 1986. In 1998 she worked with Buchanan High School Art Teacher Colette Miura and her students to create a mosaic mural of her "Fields" painting at Freeway 41 south of the San Juaquin River.
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