Cortlandt Van Rensselaer
Jan. 13, 1924-Aug. 22, 2014
Portola Valley, California
Cort Van Rensselaer, 90, passed away peacefully on August 22 after battling prostate cancer for many years. He was our beloved father and grandfather and spent his last few weeks surrounded by family and close friends.
Cort is survived by his children Steve Van Rensselaer (Judy), Amy Scrivner (Dan) and Rick Van Rensselaer (Missi), and his grandchildren, Eric and Matthew Van Rensselaer, Karen and Julie Scrivner, and Sara and Kyle Van Rensselaer.
The son of Eleanor and Maunsell Van Rensselaer and the brother of Patricia Wilson, Cort was born in Berkeley, CA and grew up in Santa Barbara where he developed a passion for radio broadcasting and photography. After graduating from Stanford University, with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1944, he served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy until 1946. He then returned to Stanford and earned his MBA in 1948.
After meeting Jean in Idlewild, CA, Cort bought a horse to woo her in the summer of 1946. They married the next year and moved to Los Altos Hills. During the majority of their marriage, they lived on the Peninsula and spent the past 49 years in Portola Valley. They had a long, happy marriage until Jean passed in 2011.
Cort started his long commitment to Hewlett-Packard in 1942 as an undergraduate at Stanford, working part-time. He returned to HP in 1948 for 45 more years, where he embodied the HP Way in a wide variety of roles, including U.S. Sales Manager and founding General Manager of the Colorado Springs Division. His most lasting impact was in HP?s central Information Systems where he focused on functional processes that made the company more efficient and customers more satisfied worldwide. For more details and to read Cort?s HP memoir, go to: http://www.hpmemory.org/timeline/cort_van/rensselaer_02.htm.
In addition to his work at Hewlett-Packard, Cort loved managing finances. He served on five investment club boards, and was a volunteer treasurer for several organizations, such as the Valley Presbyterian Church and the Sequoias Retirement Community, where he lived. Cort was also passionate about education. He and Jean set up several scholarships to support Stanford students, and he served as a trustee of the University Club of Palo Alto?s Scholarship Fund.
Cort loved his family and was overwhelmingly supportive and encouraging. He cared deeply for his friends and truly enjoyed meeting and getting to know new people. Cort stayed very active and loved playing the piano and organ, snow skiing (until he was 88!), water skiing, playing tennis, taking annual trips to the Sacramento Delta and traveling around the world with Jean.
A Memorial Service is being planned for early October. Please contact Amy Scrivner at cortvanrmemorial@gmail.com for more details. In lieu of flowers, donations in Cort?s memory may be made to Pathways Hospice Foundation, 585 N. Mary Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94085.
