Spotlight on our School Custodian

An interview with Fred L., School Custodian

Please tell us a little about yourself. For example, where are you from originally and how long have you lived in the Bay Area?
I was born in Texas, but I’ve lived in California for 60 years. I grew up in Sebastopol and here in the San Jose area, where I’ve been living for close to 50 years. My wife Sara and I live about a mile away from Village. I like being in the neighborhood, and I enjoy seeing families from the Village community when I’m out and about.

I have 4 grown children and 3 granddaughters, all close by. My oldest son is a Fire Captain at the Central Fire Station in Campbell. My wife is from New Zealand. Every year we go to New Zealand for the whole holiday break. We’ll be flying on a plane on Friday the 18th and coming back on Sunday January 3rd!

What brought you to Village School? What do you enjoy about being here?
I had a 22-year career as a Facilities Engineer, at both NASA Ames Research Center and the Stanford Hospital School. I retired a few years ago, but I was bored at home. My wife, who works at the Stanford Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic, will still be working for a few more years. I was looking for something different than what I had been doing, and this is the job that came up. I love it here; I love the community. The teachers and staff are fantastic, the parents are fantastic, and the kids are fantastic. When I got hired I told Principal David, “I’m going to treat this school like it’s my house. I’m going to keep it clean like it’s my house.” He liked that! And that’s what I try to do. Every day is different, and I enjoy it.

I’ve been here for almost 3 years. I plan to stay for 3 more. I want to stay and see the kindergarten class I came in with through to 5th grade. I have taken a group photo every year with them since kindergarten, and we will take one every year until they graduate.

What do you like to do for fun?
Besides going to New Zealand every year and spending time with family here, my wife and I like to take our 5th wheel RV to Moss Landing, Paso Robles, and the Gold Country, where we enjoy wine tasting. We also like to go to Music in the Park in the summer in Campbell and Los Gatos and to other concerts, and we like spending time at the ocean.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Just that I really enjoy it here – I look forward to coming to work everyday!