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Man of the year: Living a life of service

By Dave Bemis/Managing Editor

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Dean Davidge has been named Santa Ynez Valley’s Man of the Year for 2008 in recognition of his many volunteer contributions over many years. / Len Wood/Staff

After a childhood in the Santa Ynez Valley, Dean Davidge moved around a bit, but he never strayed far from his roots; now he’s bound to them more strongly than ever.

Whether growing grapes in the pioneering vineyard planted by his father or following his mother’s example of community involvement, Davidge is a product of his Valley upbringing.

And his extensive volunteering and community leadership over the past 25 years have earned him the title of Man of the Year for 2008 in the Santa Ynez Valley.

He will be honored April 4 at a banquet at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott, along with six other top volunteers selected by the Valley Foundation and the Santa Ynez Valley News.

His nomination cited his past presidency of the Dunn School board of education, Solvang Rotary Club and Valley Coordinating Council, as well as his founding of the Los Olivos Rotary Club and serving as its first president.

However, his involvement goes much deeper than that.

When he was a child, his parents, Giff and Mary Davidge, moved to the Valley from Pasadena and bought Indian Ditch Farm on North Refugio Road, where his father and a neighbor first planted cabernet grapes in the early 1970s, before wine was an industry in Santa Barbara County.

His mother was a principal founder of the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Society and well-known for the flowers she grew and the prizes she won for her arrangements.

Davidge began at College School and moved on to Valley Farm School (now Dunn) for second through seventh grades, then finished high school at Webb School in Claremont.

After getting his bachelor of arts degree in economics at Claremont Men’s College, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps and soon was flying helicopters in Vietnam.

Among other medals and citations, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his performance under fire in May 1968 at Hai Van Pass, where his CH-46 helicopter came under heavy fire as the crew tried to support a squad of Marines that had been pinned down for days on a steep ridge.

On the day that young Capt. Davidge as the co-pilot was supposed to be checked out to see if he had the necessary experience to command his own helicopter, the chopper and its crew instead ended up in a heavy firefight at Hai Van Pass.

Close to the treetops, under heavy fire, the pilot was badly wounded and one engine was destroyed by enemy bullets. With the crew chief’s help, Davidge got the crippled craft turned and out of danger before it could be brought down. The pilot eventually recovered, and the trapped Marines were evacuated by other chopper crews.

Davidge doesn’t talk about that experience, however. He simply refers questioners to a Web site where a member of his squad has put together everyone’s recollection of the operation.

After three years of active duty he pursued several business opportunities, including commercial real estate and construction, in the Bay Area while remaining active in the Marine Corps Reserves until he retired as a lieutenant colonel. Wanting more expertise in contracts and other issues relating to his business, he also got a law degree and passed the bar, though he never intended to practice law.

While in the Bay Area he met his future wife, Barbara, and together they returned to the Valley in 1982 with their daughter, Christy.

His volunteer work began after they enrolled Christy in the Family School in Los Olivos — he was reluctant because the school at the time was a co-op, and parents of students needed to pitch in.

With that beginning, he went on to be a board member at the school for 12 years, and this year he will finish his fourth term on the Dunn School board.

He was an active 4-H leader and sports coach for his children, Christy and James, and a founder of the countywide Four Leaf Clover Foundation, which supports 4-H activities. He’s active in the Men’s Service Club at Mission Santa Ynez and served on a joint AYSO/Pony League committee to manage the fields at Santa Ynez High School.

He was also a charter member of the Solvang Rotary Club and is a former president, but as that club grew he decided to charter a new group in Los Olivos because he enjoyed a smaller club. He became that group’s charter president in 2001.

Along the way he finds time to operate his business, Davidge Controls, which makes electric meters for landlords of older buildings who want to charge each tenant for their individual energy use.

With his brother Bill and neighbor Lee Bettencourt, he also grows grapes for Kalyra and other local wineries.

Why volunteer so much when his family, business and hobbies could absorb all of his time instead?

His business has no local customers and few local vendors, so “I have no contact with anybody else,” he said. If he didn’t get out, “I’d be really lonely.”

Beyond that, however, is the gratification that makes service its own reward.

“A lot of times I’ll have the idea that gets put into place,” he said. “There’s a lot of reward in seeing that your ideas are important to other people. That’s where the satisfaction comes from.”

And of course, sometimes “it just sort of snowballs ... and I sort of have this problem about being unable to say no.”

As for the most gratifying part of 25 years of volunteering, he cites Dunn School and Rotary.

“The one that I feel I have contributed the most to would be Dunn,” he said. After serving on its board for 14 of the last 15 years, he’ll step down in June because of term limits.

When he started, he said, many students “didn’t want to be there,” and the school “didn’t have a great reputation.”

“Now students who apply there are also applying to Cate and Thatcher and Webb,” some prestigious private schools, although he credits former Headmaster Jim Munger for much of the improvement.

Second, he cites formation of the Los Olivos Rotary, despite interruption of his efforts by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“That wouldn’t be there without me,” he said matter-of-factly. “That was my baby there for a while.”

VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR:

Today we feature Man of the Year Dean Davidge as we continue our series of brief profiles on the Santa Ynez Valley’s top volunteers for 2008.

Next week, we will conclude the series with a profile of Woman of the Year June Christensen.

The man and woman of the year and five other top volunteers will be honored April 4 at a gala awards banquet at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott.

Each spring, the Valley Foundation and the Santa Ynez Valley News honor the Valley’s man and woman of the year along with exceptional volunteers in other areas that are focuses of the foundation’s work: health and human services, seniors, youth, education, and cultural and community enhancement.

In the past several weeks we have featured volunteers Helena Avery (education), Charles Chester (health and human services), Jean Gotchall (seniors), Barbara Young (culture and community enhancement) and Lola Fikes (youth).

To make a reservation for the banquet or get more information, call the Valley Foundation at 688-2991 or send e-mail to syvf@verizon.net.

dbemis@syvnews.com