Community leaders give heartfelt farewell to Rod Diridon Sr.

Hundreds of people showed up Thursday afternoon at the San Jose Civic Auditorium to give a heartfelt farewell to Rod Diridon Sr., the “father of modern transit” in Silicon Valley, who died in April at age 87.

The high-powered list of speakers — including video messages from U.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Nancy Pelosi — shared some common themes: Diridon was a “doer” and someone who stuck to his beliefs, but he was also someone who encouraged others to follow in his footsteps. That generation of new leaders, even more than the downtown train station named for him, likely will be his most-lasting legacy.

“Rod was so focused on bringing up the next generation of leaders,” said Santa Clara Valley Water District Director Shiloh Ballard, one of the legion of candidates Diridon supported for office. “Especially later on in life, he knew it was no longer his role to be sitting at the table as a leader but instead to vacate that chair, pull it out and invite someone like me to sit in it. And to insist someone like me sit in it.”

She was far from alone. Speaker after speaker — including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, Santa Clara County Supervisors Susan Ellenberg and Otto Lee, San Jose Councilmember Michael Mulcahy, Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens — talked about those sit-downs with Diridon, the regular emails from him, the advice-filled lunches about taking care of not just the community but home life, too.

The memorial had poignant moments. The honor guard from the Santa Clara County Fire Department reverently carried Diridon’s ashes in two containers: a lantern emblazoned with his initials that he had used in his youth working on the railroad and a ceramic jar made by his wife, Gloria Duffy.

There were lighter moments, too, including Duffy opening and closing the tribute by blowing a train whistle to get everyone’s attention. And many speakers recalled, mostly fondly, the nicknames Diridon bestowed on them like “Sparky,” “Sweetheart” and “Little Boss.” (Diridon conferred honorary Italian status on me by always calling me “Salvatore,” with an accent on the “e.”)

Lee, a retired commander in the U.S. Navy, recalled that Diridon would always salute him because his highest naval rank had been lieutenant junior grade. “The truth is Rod outranked me in every way that matters,” said Lee, who wore his dress uniform to the ceremony to deliver one final salute to his mentor, “from one sailor to another.”

At the end of the ceremony, another honor detail from the U.S. Navy presented Duffy with an American flag in honor of Diridon’s service. A string quartet from Symphony San Jose, of which Diridon was a lifetime supporter, played the Navy Hymn to close.

Mahan called Diridon one of the chief builders of San Jose’s “civic backbone.”

“It takes a special kind of optimism to believe in your neighbors, your colleagues and even your rivals the way that Rod did,” Mahan said. “Seeing all the people here today whose lives Rod touched, I know that his faith was well placed. His impact, his optimism, his faith in people rippled out to city halls, classrooms, community organizations and neighborhoods across our region through each and every one of you.”

ROLLING IN THE MONEY?: Earlier this month, Jeremy Shapiro led the “Tour de Trillion,” a 60-mile, one-day bike ride to visit the Silicon Valley companies that are worth at least $1 trillion.

Inspired by a similar driving tour Derek Cheng wrote about for the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, Shapiro’s ride started in San Jose and went past Broadcom, Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Tesla and Apple. This was, of course, before SpaceX joined the trillion-dollar club with its recent IPO.

Shapiro, an author and self-described serial entrepreneur, noted the companies comprise around a third of the value of the entire stock market and contribute to California having the highest GGP of any state.

“These companies are one of the many things that makes Silicon Valley so special,” Shapiro wrote in his blog. “Cruising back home, I couldn’t help but reflect on the sheer scale of innovation packed into such a small valley.”

You can check out his post on the ride and see a map of the route at jeremyshapiro.com.

SOUNDS OF SUMMER: This Sunday will mark the 25th summer that the Kiwanis Club of Willow Glen has been providing beautiful music with the Music in the Glen series. The series, which started on Thursday nights at Willow Glen Elementary, moved to Frank Bramhall Willow Street Park on Sunday afternoons.

The six-week series kicks off with the Cisco Kid this Sunday, followed by the RPM band (July 5), Big Mike and the HartBeats (July 12), Long Train Runnin’ (July 19), the Houserockers (July 26) and the Iconics (Aug. 6). The music starts at 4 p.m. every week.

THE PATRIOTIC ACCORDION: The Fourth of July was a little more fun in Cupertino last year thanks to Joe Domitrowich, “The Capricious Accordion,” who put on a spontaneous performance of patriotic music from his driveway on Cottonwood Drive to accompany the city’s fireworks display.

“People stopped to listen, neighbors came over to chat, some danced in the driveway, others had played accordion earlier in their lives and others were just curious about the instrument,” said Domitrowich, whose live accordion was enhanced by digital technology to recreate the sound of entire ensemble. “It turned an ordinary neighborhood street into a gathering place.”

He’ll repeat the performance this year in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday, and he hopes to make it an annual neighborhood tradition after that.