Clyde Porter

CLYDE PORTER Cultural Pioneer, Humanitarian, Philanthropist Clyde Porter, who perhaps more than any other single individual brought culture and the arts to the San Fernando Valley, succumbed to brain cancer on April 18, 2006, at his home in Hidden Hills. He was 79. A Santa Monica native, he attended UCLA and earned an engineering degree from the University of Idaho. He joined his father at P.L. Porter Co. in the 1950's and ultimately became its president and CEO, d esigning and manufacturing seat-reclining equipment for the transportation industry. With over 900 employees, he built the automotive division in Westfield, Indiana, where be bought additional property and created a landscaped park and community center which he donated to the city, as well as developing and funding high school computer classes. He built the aerospace division in Woodland Hills. He believed strongly in promoting success in people by "helping them learn to fish rather than just giving th em fish." Toward that end he created organizations and then nurtured them until they could become self-sustaining. Such was his vision in starting Haven Hills shelter for battered women and assisting the Boys and Girls Club. With a philosophy of wanting to also help enrich the lives of others, he has been a founder, builder and supporter of the cultural and educational life of the Valley - and beyond - since the 1960's. In 1975 he co-founded the Valley Cultural Center, funding many first-year salaries. He was a driving force in starting the annual Summer Concerts in the Park and funding the bandshell at the Warner Center Park. He donated the fitness center at Pierce College and the swimming pool at the Solvang YMCA. He was a founding benefactor in creating the Thousand Oaks performing arts facility and was a continuing benefactor of the San Fernando Valley Symphony and the San Luis Obispo Symphony. He was a Board member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Foundation for Pierce College, the San Fernando Valley Symphony, and a member of the executive planning committee for the creation of the new 1700-seat performing arts center to be built at Cal State Northridge, to which he left a $2 million legacy. As a long-time Rotarian and past president of the Woodland Hills Rotary Club, he has donated over $100,000 to its charitable foundation. He was a major supporter of the LA Opera, the LA Philharmonic, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Ahmanson, Geffen, Actors' Coop, and Colony Theatres. Believing in the communi ty value of live theatre and "looking for a retirement project," in 2000 he bought a Masonic lodge building and converted it into the state-of-the-art 140-seat West Valley Playhouse with a resident theatre company under the direction of award-winning John Berry. The spacious well-appointed lobby also hosts many community events as well as fine art exhibits by local artists. Mr. Porter has received numerous awards and recognitions, locally and nationally. Among the most special to him were the prestigio us Fernando Award, which he received in 1994 for his humanitarian and volunteer work in the San Fernando Valley, and the first annual Clyde Porter Humanitarian Award established October 2005 in his honor. He is survived by his wife, Nancy; his sister, Shirley; his daughters, Pamela and Nancy; two grandchildren, Jenna and Kasey; plus an extended family of nieces, nephews, and cousins. He also has a stepson, stepdaughter and her husband; plus three step grandchildren. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, April 22, 2006, 10:00 a.m., at Canoga Park Presbyterian Church, 22103 Vanowen St. Following the service will be a luncheon in Clyde's memory at the Calabasas Inn, 23500 Park Sorento. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting tax deductible tributes in Clyde's honor be made either to the Woodland Hills Rotary Charitable Foundation, P.O. Box 144, Woodland Hills, CA 91365, to further humanitarian work, or to the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center c/o KC Mille r, 8700 Beverly Blvd., Suite 2416, Los Angeles, CA 90048, to support their cutting-edge research toward curing brain cancers.