When it comes to the kind of man Steve Tree was, Rich Tree, his son, summed it up best with the Biblical verse,”Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Steve Tree, the former longtime director of PSW who also epitomized what community service was all about, died on Sunday. He was 81.
Tree, with his family, moved to Porterville in 1971 to become the Executive Director of the then Porterville Sheltered Workshop, now Promoting Self Worth, serving in the position for 40 years until his retirement in 2011. He was inducted into the Porterville Wall of Fame in 2016.
Tree's life was all about public service. Along with having a career in community service, Tree served Porterville in various ways. He was extensively involved in the Boy Scouts, serving as a Scout Master, Merit Badge Counselor and Member of the Executive Board on the Sequoia Council and Mt. Whitney Council, along with other capacities within the Boy Scouts of America.
As PSW director he served as President of the California Association of Rehabilitation Facilities and President of the Central Valley Association of Rehabilitation Facilities.
He also served as a Porterville City Councilman from 1981-1985 and served as the mayor from 1982-1983. Rich Tree remembered when his father was the mayor when he was in sixth grade and has followed in his father's footsteps in public service, now serving as Porterville City Manager. Because of his father's service, Rich said city and community engagement have always had a special place in his heart.
One of Steve Tree's most notable contributions on the city council was establishing the Leadership Porterville Program. After serving on the council Tree served on the Porterville Redevelopment Advisory Committee for 23 years, including serving as that committee's chair.
The Porterville Chamber of Commerce named Steve Tree as its Man of the Year in 1993. He was also a longtime Porterville Rotary Club member. He was also actively involved in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 24 years and he was the first Stake President of the Porterville Stake, serving 2,500 members.
Under his leadership PSW saw exponential growth during his 40 years. He referred to moving to Porterville as a great blessing for his family. Tree said he was grateful for the chance to lead PSW and never could have imagined he would serve that long.
Shortly after graduating from Brigham Young University, Tree was living in Wisconsin when he was selected to be PSW's first director. When Tree began PSW had 24 clients, two employees and two volunteers, but quickly grew under Tree's leadership. In 1976 PSW purchased the property on 187 W. Olive where it still operates its store, a copy center, and the recycling center operated by clients.
Tree's legacy when it came to leadership in serving the developmentally disabled is well-known through the state. When he retired PSW had grown to have more than 200 employees and to serve more than 800 clients.
Under Tree's leadership a large number of clients developed the ability to support themselves. When Tree retired more than 300 clients had paid positions, working in areas such as maintenance crews and assembly jobs.
One of Tree's most notable contributions at PSW was the recycling center. Another one of the notable PSW initiatives under Tree's leadership was a graffiti-removal crew in which clients would spend up to 40 hours a week cleaning up graffiti.
But under Tree's leadership the core mission of providing rehabilitation for developmental disabled clients remained.
Milt Stowe, another long-time community leader who has served on the PSW board, said at the time of Tree's retirement you could really see how he connected with the clients. “He's part of them. He loves them, cares about them,” Stowe said at the time.
At the time of his retirement Tree said he and PSW owed its success to PSW's board.
Tree was born in Park City, Utah, where he attended elementary and high school. He earned a bachelor's in secondary education with an emphasis in Industrial Arts from BYU. He's also a veterans, having served in the U.S. Army Reserve for six years. He said it was during that time he established his patriotic values and realized what it meant to be an American. He went on to earn a master's in vocational rehabilitation with an emphasis in work evaluation from Wisconsin's Stout State University.
“My father lived his life guided by faith and a deep love for his family,” Rich Tree said. “He believed in serving others and taught us the importance of hard work, responsibility, and giving back through the way he lived each day. He quietly cared for people and made a difference wherever he went. We take comfort in knowing that by his works, he was welcomed by the Lord with the words, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’ Our family is grateful for the prayers, kindness, and support we have received.”
Rich Tree's brother and Steve Tree's son, Robert, also summed up the family's feelings when he posted on Facebook:
“Today I'm honoring the life of my father – his steady example, his love for family, faith and the way he showed up for people. We love you dad – until we meet again.”
Wrapping up a great year for the Monache Ag Department at the recent San Joaquin Regional meeting at Tenaya Lodge, Monache won the Sectional Outstanding 4-person Department award with Christie Bennett being awarded the Sectional Outstanding teacher in Ornamental Horticulture, James Corbett being awarded the Sectional Outstanding teacher in Agriculture Mechanics as well as both Sectional and Regional Teacher of Excellence Awards. The department moves on to compete at the State Level in May at the California Agriculture Teachers conference at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.