Our New Board Member Is a Star Supporter

Her work and her travels took her across the country and around the world. Now, as a new Board member, Martha Denzel helps keep the doors open and the programs running at the Pasadena Senior Center. She is also one of the generous donors who collectively provide more than 40 percent of the support of the non-profit Center. Since it is not funded by the City of Pasadena, the Center depends on donors like her.

Martha grew up in Pittsburgh and went to Mount Holyoke College in Western Massachusetts. Little did she imagine that the connections she made there could have a significant impact on her life, and her interests decades later.

After graduation, she headed to New York where she began her career in retailing and merchandising. "I had a great job. I found a great husband and I've still got him 48 years later," Denzel explains. Her husband Bill's job and her work in product development for several retail chains took them all over the U.S., to Europe and to the Far East. His work brought them to Southern California, where they settled in San Marino, but it took one more move back east to convince them that sunny Southern California was where they really wanted to land. They chose Pasadena because it reminded them of an east coast city.

Her long time college friend from Mount Holyoke and Pasadena Senior Center Board President, Sandy Greenstein introduced Denzel to the Center. At Greenstein's suggestion, Denzel signed up for the Masters Series program and she says she was hooked. She loves the way it explores topics in depth, giving members fresh insight into things like politics, theatre, and science." It's been exciting for me to see how enthusiastic the attendees at the various classes and events I have attended are and what a vital role PSC plays in their daily lives and activities," she explains.

Martha donates generously to the Center to support those programs and others. In addition to a sizeable annual donation, she has also included a Planned Gift for the Center in her trust. "I think it's a wonderful opportunity to help people as they age really enjoy life to the fullest and, hopefully, I'll be able to say I did that. I think it's something we all want for ourselves, so why not help make it happen."

In 2020, Martha joined the Center's Board of Directors, having volunteered on the Center's Programs and Operations Committee for some time. "We are so grateful for Martha's growing involvement in the sustainability and operations of the Center, as well as her Planned Gift," explains Pam Kaye, the Center's Senior Associate Director of Development.