Bookend Celebrations — 3480 Mauricia

On February 17, 2025

The Walz family purchased this house in Santa Clara CA in the summer of 1963. Karen was not quite 9, ready to begin 4th grade. Gary was just 7 and starting 2nd grade. Sallie was 3 and in preschool. Our dad Len was an architect and our mom Bev was staying home to take care of us before her career as a librarian. Bev and Len had chosen to live in the Santa Clara Valley because it offered great opportunities for them, good schools for us, and better weather than they’d had in Kansas.

In the years since then, this home has seen many important and happy events, days of sadness, evolution and change in our lives, communities and daily experiences. There have also been many, many celebrations! As you know, we are preparing to sell this house. Our realtors tell us that, given its location and school district, the likely buyers will be a professional couple with young children — just like we were in 1963. To celebrate this special place, we share bookend celebrations with you.

Bookend 1: 1963

The first big holiday after we moved in was Thanksgiving. Bev’s cousin Lee and her family had just moved to California. So what better way to inaugurate the house than with a big turkey dinner?

Of course this will be a barbecue on the back patio!! Len holds the bird while Karen and Gary “help”.
Len and Bev continue to monitor progress.

Lee and Doug Hoff joined us while the turkey was cooking. Note that the “toast” was with coffee!

The first backyard gathering with Lee (including future Karol), Doug, Karen and Len in the back, Sallie, Laurie and Gary in front, and Bev behind the camera.

Thanksgiving dinner in the dining room. This time Len is behind the camera.

With one successful family holiday under their belt, Bev and Len’s next obvious move was to invite everyone!! So at and after Christmas there was the first California gathering of the Pankratz-Regier clan at 3480. It could have been considered a “Cousins’ Reunion” but was not yet known as a “Pankratium”.