A memorial service celebrating the life of education enthusiast Bob Lench, philanthropist and West Los Angeles College Foundation board member, will be held on Monday at 12 noon in the Fine Arts Theatre on the West campus.
After a lengthy battle with cancer that necessitated numerous trips to the Mayo Clinic, Mr. Lench, who was 84 years old, died on Nov. 7. He had recently returned from his final trip to the Clinic.
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Fellow board member Paul Jacobs said education, young people and aviation were three of the dominant interests in his friend’s long life, and he managed to weave all of them into productive and popular foci within the broad curriculum at West L. A. College.
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“The first thing people should know about Bob,” Mr. Jacobs said this morning, “is that he always was very generous.
“He was frustrated by the rising cost of books. He was concerned that many students would not be able to afford them. Just last year, he contributed a huge amount of money to the college to offset student book costs.
“Bob had a particular interest in young people,” the former Mayor of Culver City said.
“He loved to chat with them, he loved to challenge them. One point of the Foundation is to administer scholarships. Well, Bob started his own scholarship program.
“The joy, the inspiration that Bob derived from interviewing ‘non-traditional’ students was something to behold — whether they were students returning after many years, single head of family, foreign-born students, or those returning from the military.
“He never could get enough of them.”
Making a Difference
The gregarious Mr. Lench, a widower, served on numerous boards, including the Culver City Education Foundation, and he was active in Culver City’s ambitious Sister City program.
His unique path to providing a boost to hungry students was fueled by his entrepreneurial spirit, Mr. Jacobs and other friends said.
“One of the last gallant entrepreneurs,” was the way Mr. Jacobs described him.
Mr. Lench amassed a sizable bank account by manufacturing security doors, a narrow professional niche, not a widely known field. And then, said persons close to Mr. Lench, he devoted the rest of his life to giving away much of what he had earned.
At the height of his career in business, Mr. Lench was accustomed to being in charge, having directions carried out at his pace — fast — rather than methodically through a meandering network.
“At times,” Mr. Jacobs said, “Bob’s entrepreneurial spirit would get frustrated working through the Foundation’s procedures doing things that he really wanted to do.”
Unusual Program
Since flying was one of Mr. Lench’s passions — he had his own airplane, which is based at the Santa Monica Airport — West L.A. College’s aviation program was very special to him,” Mr. Jacobs said.
“The program, I am sure, is one of the few, one of the most unusual in the country. It is for people who want to learn about the mechanics of aviation.”
Finally, Mr. Lench’s passing creates a hollowness in the Culver City social scene.
“Any morning of the week,” said Mr. Jacobs, “from 7:30 to 9:30, you could always find Bob at the Roll ‘n Rye. He loved to chat. He loved to mingle, and that is how many people will remember him.”