Educator, social justice advocate
September 17, 2003
Memorial services for Alan Strain, an educator, Stanford University assistant dean and former Portola Valley resident, were held September 13 at the Santa Cruz Friends Meeting House in Santa Cruz.
Mr. Strain, 79, died August 26 of congestive heart failure at his home in Santa Cruz. He was known for his commitment to social justice.
He graduated from Stanford University, where he majored in psychology. While at Stanford, he helped to organize a group of students to bring horses to Poland as part of a relief effort after World War II.
He also met his first wife, Joanne Hunnicutt, at Stanford. She is remembered by many as the helpful children's librarian at the Menlo Park Library for many years.
After he received a teaching credential from Stanford, he taught at Woodside Elementary School. During the 1960s, he taught at and served as director of the Peninsula School in Menlo Park. He later helped found Pacific High School, an alternative school near Los Gatos, and taught there until he left to serve as the western field secretary of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors.
In the 1970s, he joined the Dean of Students Office as director of special services, responsible for all draft counseling at Stanford.
After the Vietnam War ended, he was appointed associate dean of Student Affairs at Stanford and served as interim dean of Native American Affairs. He helped organize the first spring Inter-Tribal Pow Wow at Stanford, and helped found Synergy, a cooperative house on campus.
Mr. Strain anchored an important era at Stanford, said Jim Lyons, emeritus dean of student affairs, who worked with Mr. Strain.
"Alan had magical qualities that enriched the lives of students and colleagues. He had special qualities of person, principle, social mission and compassion, and was a master teacher in the informal curriculum of student affairs," said Mr. Lyons. "His work bears fruits even today -- 30 years later."
In 1975, Mr. Strain was awarded the Lloyd D. Dinkelspiel Award for outstanding service to undergraduate education.
He loved to design and build houses, said his son, Larry Strain. He built a home in Portola Valley off Westridge Drive, then renovated the family home, a 26-year project on Wayside Road in Portola Valley.
Mr. Strain also was active with the religious Society of Friends throughout his life. He served on the National Board of the American Friends Service Committee, and on two occasions, was a Friend in Residence at Pendle Hill, a Quaker study center in Pennsylvania.
He was born in Fairfield, Idaho, in 1924 and moved to California with his family in 1935. During World War II, he was a conscientious objector and served his alternative service at boys' ranch in the San Fernando Valley.
He is survived by his wife, Rosalie Pizzo Strain; his sons, David Strain and Larry Strain of Berkeley; his daughter, Laurie Friedman of Davis; 16 grandchildren; and his brothers, Douglas Strain of Oregon and Robert Smith of Illinois.
Contributions in Mr. Strain's memory may be made to the Santa Cruz Friends Meeting Building Fund, 220 Rooney St., Santa Cruz, CA 95065; or the Stroke Center, 501 Upper Park Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95065.