Claudia Kendall Salewske of Gilroy,CA passed away unexpectedly on December 25, 2016. She was 70 years old.

Claudia was born on October 1, 1946 in Fairfax, CA to parents Phil and Carol Kendall. She grew up with younger brother Robert (Bob) in San Anselmo, CA and graduated from Sir Francis Drake High School in 1964. She attended U.C. Davis and majored in English with a teaching credential, graduating in 1968. Claudia began her teaching career at Armijo High School in Fairfield, CA. During her second year of teaching she met Michael Salewske, a Naval Lieutenant JG undergoing nuclear training in nearby Vallejo. Claudia and Mike were married on October 24, 1970 in Ross, CA. The newlyweds relocated to Honolulu, HI in January of 1971, where Mike was stationed for submarine duty. Claudia found employment first as a substitute teacher, then as a teacher and counselor at Aliamanu Intermediate School in Honolulu. She and Mike made many lifelong friends from their years in Hawaii.

Claudia and Mike relocated back to California in July of 1974. Settling in San Jose,CA, they bought a home and started their family. Daughter Cassie was born in 1975, followed by son Matthew in 1977. Hearing about the nearby town of Gilroy from good friends, Claudia and Mike purchased land on Roop Road, and set about building their family home. They became official residents of Gilroy in June of 1977.   

Claudia was quick to become involved in the Gilroy community, joining the Gilroy United Methodist Church in 1978. She took many active roles in church leadership over the years, including direction of the church’s Senior High ministry through the 1980s. While raising her young children, she also took classes at Gavilan College, began volunteering with the Gilroy Museum and Gilroy Historical Society, and among other writing projects, penned a history of Gilroy that was published in 1982, entitled Pieces of the Past (she later authored Images of America: Gilroy, published in 2003). Claudia returned to teaching as a substitute teacher in 1983; in the fall of 1984 she joined the faculty of Gilroy High School, and taught in the English Department until 1996, when she left to pursue her Master’s Degree in English Literature at San Jose State University. Receiving her Master’s in 1998 was one of her proudest and greatest accomplishments; being asked to join the faculty as a lecturer was another. Claudia loved being in the classroom, and taught at SJSU until she retired in the fall of 2006.

Claudia excelled at many things: teaching, authoring, mentoring, creating. She was endlessly curious about people, with a particular fondness for children and the elderly. She loved to sing, played piano and guitar, and could make nearly anything; she was especially ‘famous’ for her beautiful baked goods, homemade jams, and witty poems and songs. Claudia was a talented and devoted teacher, who never seemed to tire of helping and encouraging others, especially her students. Her volunteer hours stretched into the thousands, from local history research at the museum, to helping at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, to tutoring adult learners at Vision Literacy. In her retirement, Claudia enjoyed traveling with husband Mike, often to the United Kingdom to visit the many cousins from her British roots. She was also an active member of the local women’s book and study club, FRFG (Freely Received, Freely Given), founded in 1898.

Claudia will be remembered as a loving and benevolent presence in the lives of all who knew her. Her boundless heart, thoughtful and giving nature, passion for education, service to her communities, and abiding faith in God are her lasting legacies.

Claudia’s family has established a fund in her memory, the Claudia K. Salewske Memorial Fund, which is being administered by the Silicon Valley Community Fund. Donations in any amount will be gratefully accepted, and will be used to fund memorial scholarships as well as grants to local charities.