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Bobbie Stenblom
Capri School mourns teacher's death
By Moryt Milo
Bobbie Stenblom's unexpected death came as a shock to her family, friends, co-workers and students at Capri Elementary School.
Although the 65-year-old educator was re-diagnosed with cancer last fall, it was a fatal heart attack, after a routine hernia operation, which caught everyone off guard and led to her death March 16.
"At the memorial service, the priest at St. Lucy's Catholic Church called her the glue that held her family together," Capri Elementary School Principal Debbi Garcia said. "She was also the soul of our school."
During her 27 years of helping the school as a parent and later working for the Campbell Union School District (CUSD), Stenblom continually looked for creative ways to keep her students motivated.
Co-worker and Capri Elementary School secretary Melanie Lawler remembers Stenblom's unwavering sense of dedication and love for children.
Lawler knew Stenblom for more than 14 years and recalls the first time she met Stenblom during one of the school's Halloween festivals. Stenblom was dressed as a clown, handing out prizes and candy and selling balloons, she said. She always had a smile.
Stenblom also continually looked for ways to support the school, even if it meant digging into her own pockets to defray costs.
"This was who she was," CUSD Director of Technology Gerry Davis said. "Her heart and soul were in everything."
Davis, a former principal at Capri Elementary School, said his initial memories of Stenblom were of her standing outside of Safeway supermarket on Winchester Boulevard collecting grocery receipts from the shoppers leaving the store. It was part of a promotional program with Safeway supermarkets to help put Apple computers into schools.
"Capri School was the first school in the nation to get an Apple computer because of Bobbie's efforts," Davis said. "She also stood outside Safeway selling hotdogs and condiments. She split the proceeds with Safeway, and used her share to purchase software for the school's computers."
At the time of her death she was collecting old ink cartridges. She planned to give the cartridges to a recycling plant and use the funds to purchase items for the computer lab.
In her computer lab, she created student incentives in the accelerated reader program. Every time a student read a book and took a short quiz demonstrating his or her comprehension of the material, the student received a ticket for a monthly drawing. Each month a number was picked out of a jar, and a student received the basket of goodies sitting on Stenblom's desk, computer aide Linda Andrianos said.
The basket contained an assortment of items: a stuffed animal, candy, small toys, a book and other goodies. Stenblom purchased the treats with her own money.
Andrianos was bereaved by her mentor's death. To deal with the pain and honor her life, she made a photo collage in the shape of a heart with the saying, "Forever in our hearts, Bobbie Stenblom."
The makeshift memorial sits at the entrance to the computer lab as a reminder of how it began and ''the guiding light who made it happen.
On April 20, Stenblom will be memorialized when the school plants a redwood tree in her name for Earth Day. The students will also paint a mural on the outside wall of the computer lab, in her memory.
"If anyone is going to heaven it's going to be Bobbie," Garcia said. "She is that top angel who brought everyone unconditional love."
Stenblom is survived by husband, Wally Stenblom, of Campbell; children, Elizabeth and Debra, of San Jose and Michael, of Campbell; and two brothers and two sisters. Donations in Stenblom's name can be made to the American Cancer Society, 1715 Bascom Ave., Campbell, CA 95008.
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Campbell, California
