Healthwise summer/fall 2007 - Citrus Valley Health Foundation

�JANE BRAUN
Before her days with FPH, Braun worked as a reporter, staff
writer, and receptionist for the Monrovia Journal/Duartean.
Although she had no formal training in public relations, Braun
did have many years under her belt volunteering for various
organizations, usually adding publicity to her responsibilities.
Though much of her work, both volunteer and otherwise, was
in and around the city of Glendora, her altruism was felt
around the world.
“My first late husband, Frank Tessitor, an engineer, was chief
of public works for a foreign aid program called the Agency
for International Development (AID). We lived in Karachi,
Pakistan for three years. After living in Glendora and
Bethesda, Maryland, for a few years, we moved to Taipei,
Taiwan,” explains Braun. The Tessitors remained in Taiwan
for five years, before returning to Glendora, her home for
40 years.
While in Pakistan, Braun (Tessitor) developed and directed
a popular international recreation program comprised of 20
weekly activities and classes serving nine nationalities.
Among her volunteer activities was distributing milk in
refugee camps. But it was during her time in Taiwan that
she celebrated her highest achievement.
“As I look back on my life, my greatest accomplishment was
establishing the Taiwan Western Art Library in Taipei,” Braun
recalls. “It had never been done before. Chinese students
were studying Western art, but with limited examples. When
Western publications came to the University, the professors
took them for themselves. The students were left with
nothing from which to learn.” Braun was able to establish
the library with help from the art students, plus donations
and support from the U.S. Ambassador, U.S.I.S., AID, various
other U.S. government agencies, and organizations in Taipei
and the United States. “We were able to get donations of
art books – including the entire Skira collection – movie
projectors and recorders, cartoons from Hanna Barbera
Studios, and a variety of art books from private clubs in
the States.”
Chang Fu Tsung, director of the National Central Library in
Taipei, welcomed the collection within its library. Here the
students could work and research Western art, something
they had wanted to do for a long time but never expected to
happen. As a result, Braun became fast friends with many of
the artists and art students. “Establishing the Western Art
Library was the turning point of my life,” Braun says fondly.
“It was a wonderful experience.”
By the time the library came into being, Braun was awarded a
commendation by the Taiwan Minister of Education. Two
years later, she founded the companion Library of Occidental
Music at the National Central Library.
Returning to Glendora, Braun continued to live a rich life with
Frank and their three children: Judi (Rudd); Doug (Tessitor);
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Family Showcase Life Stories
and Joyce (Farnsworth), with five granddaughters and six
great grandchildren to come. Frank passed away in 1977 after
38 years of marriage. Two years later, Braun met Howard,
who became her second husband in 1981. She was widowed
a second time when their 17-year marriage ended with
Howard’s death in 1998.
Foothill’s first publication – FPH News – was launched by Braun.
Today we know it as Healthwise, this very newsletter.
Over the years, Braun has immersed herself in the
community, taking on volunteer and leadership roles
throughout. Shortly after returning to the States she was
named a ‘Southern California International Woman’ by
members of the press for her volunteer work locally and
abroad. Subsequently, she has earned many honors and
accolades over the years including the Glendora Chamber
of Commerce’s Community Service Award; the L.A. County
Department of Health Services’ Outstanding Volunteer Award;
two Women of Achievement Certificates from the YWCA of
the San Gabriel Valley; and the Humanitarian Service Award
by the Glendora Coordinating Council. In 2000, Braun was
named Citizen of the Year by the Glendora Chamber of
Commerce.
As special as these awards are to her, Braun is most
passionate about the ways in which she spends her days –
or more accurately, with whom. The list of service
organizations and action groups with whom she divides her
time goes on and on, such as the Citrus College Foundation,
which she has served for more than 14 years. Eight of those
years were spent as chair of the Performing Arts Committee;
six as a member of the Citrus Foundation Board of Directors,
two as president, and simultaneously, three as founding chair
of the Taste of Autumn Food and Wine Tasting Benefit. She
has been a member of the Glendora Coordinating Council
since 1981, with 11 years on the board, and two years as
president.
HEALTHWISE FOOTHILL PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL