VNA Health’s 23rd Annual Mother’s Day Luncheon will recognize Leslie Person Ryan as Honored Mother and Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree as Remembered Mother, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Friday, May 10 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.
Sutter Health is this year’s Vision Sponsor and Bui & Herb Simon is Presenting Sponsor for the event.
VNA Health was founded in 1908 by a group of public-spirited and far-sighted women led by an exceptional nurse, Marian Watts.
“Our community has been fortunate to have remarkable women and compassionate caregivers who have shaped the legacy of our community’s character, health, and ability to live well,” VNA said.
“In honor of our amazing mothers and caregivers, we gather each year on the Friday before Mother’s Day for our distinguished and beloved Mother’s Day Luncheon to celebrate two mothers – one living and one in memory – and to share our gratitude for their lives and contributions to our community,” VNA said.
Ryan is the person who sees a need or a problem, and does something about it. For some 40 years, she has been known in Montecito and Santa Barbara as the go-to person for custom invitations and personalized stationery, originally starting the business Letter Perfect.
As chair of the Junior League, Ryan started programs like the Teen Safe Ride and created the Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team.
After the tragic mudslides of 2018 left Summerland in a food desert, Ryan started a farm to provide a healthy, local food source. Today, she is the CEO and founder of the Santa Barbara Agriculture & Farm Education Foundation (SBAFEF), whose mission is to provide food security, increase awareness, and educate how food is grown, propagated and distributed.
VNA Health connected with Ryan when a hospice patient who was a single parent with two boys needed assistance with food security. Asked to help, Ryan said, “No problem!”
She began weekly deliveries to the family, and continued to do so after the parent passed away. The brothers are able to live together and receive a free healthy food delivery every week.
Recently, Ryan was awarded the 2024 Local Food Hero by Santa Barbara Permaculture Network in recognition of her longtime commitment to building food resilience in her community.
As this year’s Honored Mother, Ryan said her greatest awards are her children Ottocina (Otto), Talliesin (Tally), and Margaret (Peg).
Lady Leslie Ridely-Tree often said: “My mother said, ‘Whatever you have, you must share. The more you have, the more you must share.’”
Ridely-Tree was a renowned philanthropic leader, trained in music, attended law school, directed a Manhattan community center, implemented the first Head Start program, and established the Bridge Academy.
Her pursuit of giving fueled her as the CEO and chair of Pacific Air Industries, a leading source for airplane parts and components. For Ridely-Tree, running a successful business meant that she had more means so that she could give more.
A woman of faith, Ridely-Tree believed in a power greater than herself who helped her all through life.
When most people plan for retirement at age 60, she became a paralegal. On her first job in Santa Barbara, she met Paul Ridley-Tree, and they were married two weeks later.
The couple quickly became the most generous philanthropists in Santa Barbara. Leslie, and her signature flaming red hair, would find the causes and Paul would get out his checkbook. They were a formidable pair.
Besides Paul, Leslie loved music and her family. She trained in violin and voice, and sang professionally as a torch singer. In her later years, the biggest loves of her life were her daughter Suzette, and her grandchildren Nahtahna and Xaloc.
Suzette is a nurse who worked in hospice care for VNA Health for 10 years. Her passion to contribute to making the world a better place and help others “do well” continues her mother’s mission of care.
Andrew Firestone will serve as master of ceremonies at the luncheon, which includes a champagne reception, lunch, live auction and raffle, testimonials, and performances.
VNA Health provides some $2.7 million annually in charitable community care, including subsidized medical care, charity care at Serenity House, the Loan Closet, Community Bereavement Care, We Honor Veterans, and Expressive & Integrative Therapies such as Pet Therapy and Music Services.