We are very sad to announce that Janice Delfino, one of the
founding members of Ohlone Audubon Society, has died. Janice
was also instrumental in the founding of the Hayward Area
Shoreline Planning Agency. The following tribute to Janice was
written for the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, by
her dear friend, Florence LaRiviere. We could not have produced
a more beautiful and appropriate tribute than this. —EC
Janice Delfino, 1926-2008.

We have lost a beautiful and gracious friend. The Bay has lost
one of its most knowledgeable and effective advocates.
Janice’s knowledge of the South Bay was legend. Rick
Coleman, when he was manager of the refuge, never had to look
up pond acreages when he needed them in a hurry-he could just
turn to Janice who would give him the answer, correct to the
nearest one tenth of a square foot! When she might not have the
information available immediately, she would refer to her files.
We all have files, but Janice could find things in “a couple of
minutes”!

It was not only Janice’s brilliant understanding of both the
natural and political features of the shoreline that made her so
effective; it was the cheerful and warm way she had of expressing
her love of the marshes, the ponds and the creatures that inhabit
them.

Many of the land battles on the Hayward Shoreline have been
resolved, but not all. Those of us who knew and loved Janice will
continue her work.

San Francisco Bay would be a very different place had not
Janice and her husband Frank devoted decades advocating for the
protection of the natural shoreline.
Deepest love to Frank, his sons and daughters-in-law.