Marie Steckmest: A Citizen For a ‘Greener’ Palisades

Marie Steckmest is loaded with ideas. When she was teaching reading to second graders, she constructed a snug little Volkswagen for two out of cardboard for individualized instruction. When her own children were at Marquez Elementary, she developed the career week program that is still going strong. And now Marie has been named Citizen of the Year for an idea, more accurately a movement’Greening the Palisades.   She will be honored at the annual banquet, sponsored by the Palisadian-Post, on April 23 at the American Legion Hall.   ’I like to start programs, and I think I am good at organizing and getting people to join,’ Steckmest says, with the caveat that if the idea doesn’t draw enthusiasm, she moves on. ‘I get an idea, bounce it off a few people, but if the idea doesn’t sound good, I just don’t pursue it.’   Steckmest is the ideal right brain-left brain type, who not only can unleash an idea, but also possesses the discipline necessary to implement it by encouraging participation from others: ‘I think people like helping people, and I can make it easy to help and learn.’   A community builder while living for more than 25 years in the Palisades, Steckmest has amassed a network of men and women whom she has worked with through her various associations’Palisades Presbyterian Church, the Junior Women’s Club, Marquez Elementary and Santa Monica-based OPCC, which provides comprehensive services for low-income and homeless people.   Although Marie grew up in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, Southern California was part of her childhood itinerary as a consequence of her father’s sabbaticals. A math professor at the University of Minnesota, he was seduced by the weather of Southern California and thought nothing was better than playing golf at Rancho Park. In their first foray to California, the family lived on Iliff Street, while Marie, an only child, attended Palisades Elementary. Returning five years later, the family settled in Santa Monica, and Marie completed fifth grade at Roosevelt Elementary.   Marie enjoyed the fruits of a Midwestern upbringing and family life. Her mother taught her the love of cooking, and the value of a loyal, loving partnership’she typed the text for all her husband’s math textbooks.   ’My father was the driving force in the family,’ Marie says. ‘He was friendly; he liked people, enjoyed dancing and gardening and sports. He didn’t have a boy, and I was an only child, so even though I didn’t enjoy gym at school, I played softball in a vacant lot, played golf, swam and began my love of tennis.’   Tennis has played a big part in Marie’s life, introducing her to many people, including her attorney husband Larry, whom she met in 1982 at the Westside Racket Club on Motor Avenue.   The couple married and moved to the Palisades in 1984 when their son Jeff was born, followed two years later by their daughter Lisa. Jeff now works in finance in Washington, D.C.; Lisa works for a consulting firm in downtown Los Angeles.   If tennis teaches tenacity, focus and strategy and encourages sociability, Marie has mastered the game. These traits, combined with her educational background’a B.A. in psychology in 1971 and an MBA in marketing from UCLA in 1986’have proved useful in her community involvement.   Marie divides her adult life into stages, moving from fulltime employment, to volunteering in her children’s schools to her current focus on the community of Pacific Palisades.   She taught elementary school for seven years, then took an abrupt turn and sold business computers for Sperry Univac. Later, after completing her MBA she was a marketing consultant for a year.   Through the Presbyterian church, Marie met Kimberly Giancola, who introduced her to the Junior Women. The association was wonderful for Marie, who stayed in the group for 10 years, serving in a number of leadership positions, including president. She also met women, including Carol Sanborn and Suzanne Baraff, who years later have joined her on several Palisades Cares programs. And each new idea draws more volunteers, including Sid Greenwald and Chamber of Commerce President Toni Balfour, who work with Marie on the recycling efforts in town and at all the local schools.   ’I enjoyed the service aspects of the Juniors, and I loved volunteering at Marquez School,’ Marie says, but six years ago, after her children were out of high school, she turned her attention to helping those outside the Palisades who were struggling. ‘I wanted to do something and involve our church in more outreach activities,’ she says.   Intrigued by the work the late Cathie Wishnick was doing at Kehillat Israel with Turning Point (a women’s transitional housing shelter), Marie sought out Cathie, ‘who told me how to do it, the ways to volunteer and help.’   By applying her skills, seeking advice from experts, laying out a plan and developing a cadre of helpers, Marie expanded her Palisades Cares franchise from a ‘Palisades Volunteer Days’ week of service opportunities to promoting her green message: reduce, reuse and recycle, which culminated last year with the distribution of 36 recycling bins throughout the Village. The $20,000 project was accomplished with a $10,000 city grant, matched by the generosity of the community.   And now in 2009, Marie continues her greening message with updates on news and events in her Palisadian-Post Save Our Earth column and by working with her coalition of parents, students and teachers in all the schools.   Moving along with another idea, Marie surprised herself with the breadth of discussion and community participation in the first Community Reads book, ‘The Soloist,’ which focuses on the challenge of mental illness and homelessness in our city.   ’I had attended a talk on the subject by Steve Lopez (author of ‘The Soloist’) and OPCC’s Renee Buchanan (a former bank executive, who suffered from depression and spent time on the streets),’ Marie recalls. ‘Then I talked to Katie O’Laughlin at Village Books, who liked the idea.   ’Talking to friends, seeking advice from experts and listening are key for successful programs,’ Steckmest says. ‘It’s fun to work with people towards a common goal. It’s all synergy.’