Lasting Memories

John Joseph Berwald
1918-Feb. 9, 2010
Palo Alto, California

John Joseph Berwald, a Palo Alto resident for 55 years, former Palo Alto City Council member and retired Standard Oil administrator, died Feb. 9, 2010, following five years of declining health relating to Alzheimer's disease. He was 92.

He and his wife of 66 years, Genevieve, moved to Palo Alto in 1954, where they raised their six children and became active members of the Catholic Church. He joined Standard Oil in 1939 as a part-time service-station salesman in North Hollywood. When he retired from Standard Oil in 1984 he was senior adviser for public policy. Following their marriage, the Berwalds moved 11 times in the following decade as he followed job assignments with Standard Oil. He served on the Palo Alto council during the turbulent decade of 1967 to 1977, when there were a series of counterculture demonstrations in downtown Palo Alto and residents struggled over the city's policy toward growth versus slow growth.

He in the late 1960s proposed that an "environmental design study" be done on the Palo Alto foothills region, from west of U.S. Highway 280 to Skyline Ridge. The study evolved from seeking ways to create environmentally sensitive low-density housing, as he envisioned it, into one that concluded it would be cheaper for the city to acquire foothills lands than to allow them to be developed due to the cost of infrastructure, services and schools compared to tax returns from the area. He also served on the board of the Senior Coordinating Council of the Midpeninsula Area, Inc. (now Avenidas) and was a member of the Knights of Columbus. In retirement, his energies extended far beyond the Palo Alto borders.

In 1979, he co-founded and became the first president of the nonprofit organization, Rescue Now International (RNI).

He is survived by Genevieve and their six children: Patricia Berwald-Jones, Janette Aljian, John R. (Suzanne), Michael (Allison), Matthew (Carla) and Mary; and by eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.