Alice Breckling

It was a pleasure to have known Bro. Dennis Goodman over the years. My husband, Herb, and I first met him when we joined the Moraga Historical Society as charter members.

I can remember the few times we had Bro. Dennis and his friend Bro. Christian for dinner. They were both so interesting and delightful. We also found that we had something in common. -- Dennis' family had come from a place in Germany that was very close to where Herb's family had lived.

He had a way of getting people to use their talents and he appreciated what they did for him. I recall when the present library at Saint Mary's College was first built they had long drawers of card files, and when they were pulled out too far, the drawers and the cards would fall out. Bro. Dennis asked Herb if he could fix them. He put stops on all the drawers and that solved the problem. I'm sure everything is now in the computer, not on card files.

He also encouraged me to do charcoal sketches of historical places for meetings, two pictures of old­ time college presidents, and the pastel portrait of Moraga.

Did you know that he had a hobby of propagating conifers? He donated many seedlings at a historical society meeting for members to take home.

The last visit I had with him was a few years ago when Herb and I, my sister Margaret Breen and her son Jim (her husband Conrad was from the Moraga family) drove up to Mont La Salle in Napa to visit him. Where he retired is a beautiful spot in the redwoods surrounded by colorful vineyards. We visited together out in the lovely garden and he had brought out the scrapbook I made for him when he was Moraga's "Man of the Year" and also the "Grand Marshal" of the July 4 parade. He had brought it up to date and replaced old news clippings with copies to make it acid proof and longer lasting. He also showed us through the beautiful chapel. A very pleasant visit!

Yes, I will have many nice memories of Brother Dennis Goodman and his great interest and knowledge of local history, and hard work in gathering much of the information that is for the use of everyone in the Moraga History Room.

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