Berkeley has so many quiet heroes we pass by every day who do challenging physical work without fanfare (or remuneration) to make our city a better place to live.
Steve Glaeser, who passed away last month at the age of 62, was certainly one of those people. If you traverse the public pathways of Berkeley, it’s likely you’ve run into Steve leading the Berkeley Path Wanderers’ Association’s (BPWA) all-volunteer path-building team. His 19 years of hands-on pathway construction work has contributed mightily to the city’s network of over 136 public paths and stairways.
Steve was a native Berkeleyan; born at Alta Bates Hospital and raised in the Elmwood neighborhood with his brother Mark and his sister Kathy. His parents, Rachel (a retired pediatric nurse) and UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry Robert Glaeser still live in the home Steve grew up in. His family remembers Steve scrambling around the Berkeley Hills up to Grizzly Peak as a kid to explore his hometown.
“Steve loved maps of all kinds — topographical or maps of paths in other cities, such as San Francisco. Steve always enjoyed hiking, as far back as I can remember,” recalls his sister Kathy. “And he loved the paths,” she adds.
After graduating from The College Preparatory School and receiving a degree in Physical Geography from Cal, Steve went to work as a warehouse supervisor in Berkeley then as a customer service rep for Conifer/Crent Company in Richmond. After early retirement, he returned to the outdoor project work he loved from his Boy Scout days.
“Steve started volunteering with BPWA around 2005, and was a very regular and extremely capable worker,” says Charlie Bowen, who has overseen the path-building operation with BPWA for decades. She adds, “Creating a highly skilled crew of volunteer path-builders was Steve’s idea and he was the foreman during the work.”
Steve worked on more than 20 paths, including the most challenging ones. Many of these paths required clearing densely covered hillsides of ivy and the laying of over 200 steps per path on very steep terrain (with Steve doing much of the heavy lifting). Complex planning and calculations were needed to make these stairway projects a reality.
Long-time volunteer Bob Gomez recalls, “Steve possessed ingenuity like I’d never seen before. One needs only to walk up Columbia Path from Campus Drive and see the retaining wall he directed us to build.”
In addition to his dedicated crew of regulars, Steve also supervised and trained many others, including Girl and Boy Scouts working on their Gold/Eagle Scout Awards, Cal student volunteers including Cal Engineering School fraternity members, visiting international students, and other community volunteers.
Steve was also a dedicated seller of the Berkeley and Its Pathways Map, which raises funds for building more paths. The highlight of the BPWA Annual Meetings was always his slideshow of “before” and “after” photos of new pathways being built. Steve documented the path construction process and delighted in showing our meeting attendees how it was done with creativity and precision. He even took these presentations on the road to audiences at the Hillside Club, Berkeley City Club, public libraries and more.
In addition to working with BPWA, in 2014, Steve and Jim Rosenau started a group called Take to the Hills (TTTH). The new group’s mission was to repair and build more steps on the Clark Kerr Trail (aka Derby Canyon Trail) on UC property leading into Derby Canyon from the top of Dwight Way. This unofficial, steep path was quite treacherous and in much need of the 250 hand-set wooden steps TTTH has installed.
Current Take to the Hills co-leader Francesca Verdier states, “Steve taught me everything I know about building step paths. He was a good educator — patient, kind, funny. Steve did much good in this world. He will be much missed.” As Spring approaches, consider taking a walk up the “Piano Key Steps” at the top of Dwight Way to experience the views, native flowers and plantings, and beautifully installed steps that Take to the Hills has put in.
Steve’s father, Bob Glaeser, summed it up best: “Working on the pathways gave Steve purpose and enjoyment in his life. He valued his co-workers, was proud to contribute to the beauty of the city, and helped give walkers a way to get around the Berkeley Hills he loved so much. In many ways, Steve got more back from his work than he put in.”
So, as you go exploring on the public paths, please take a moment to thank Steve Glaeser, who carefully laid thousands of wooden stairsteps into the earth, straight and level, for the use and enjoyment of all.
