CREST Award for Genealogy Volunteer

Annually since 1993 the City of Cupertino has selected five to ten community volunteers to receive a CREST (Cupertino Recognizes Extra Steps Taken) Award. This year, Bob Cloke, Treasurer of the Santa Clara County Historical & Genealogical Society (SCCHGS) received one of these awards at the Cupertino Community Hall on June 17th. The primary reason he was nominated was for his volunteer work as a trainer and tutor in the computer lab at West Valley Community Services (WVCS). Bob assists clients from diverse socio-economic backgrounds by polishing resumes, helping with job searches and teaching basic computer skills. When needed Bob also helps in the WVCS food pantry sorting out the donations. Secondarily, Bob was also cited for serving as treasurer for both St. John’s Lutheran Church and Trinity United Methodist Church joint venture and for SCCHGS. And if that is not enough, Bob also delivers food to a homebound neighbor.

Bob is a joy to work with – he is greatly admired by all his fellow SCCHGS Board Members and efficiently manages his financial duties for SCCHGS. Bob makes use of the Library’s genealogy books and databases to research his family which has deep California roots – he has found a lot of information on his family using the San Jose Mercury News 1866-1922 Historical database.

He has quite a distinguished background – he is a San Jose native and a retired engineer whose career in the Silicon Valley disk drive industry spanned 32 years and resulted in his acquiring 41 patents.

The photo with this article, Courtesy of the City of Cupertino, shows Bob just after he has accepted his CREST Award from Cupertino City Councilman Mark Santoro. A video of the CREST Award ceremony can be viewed from the homepage of the City of Cupertino if you also download a QuickTime video player. Bob was the final awardee so you can scroll almost to the end of the video to see a “mini-movie” of his volunteer work and his touching acceptance speech. On the “mini-movie” there is an image taken of the front of Central Park Library and footage in the Heritage Pavilion and Genealogy Workroom.

-- Submitted by Mary Hanel, Staff Liaison to SCCHGS