Gray Panthers say Good-bye to Bill Young

We at Gray Panthers are deeply saddened by the death on May 30 of Bill Young, a long-time member of Gray Panthers, an impassioned legislator with the California Senior Legislature, a most eloquent spokesperson for the IHSS Program, and a tireless advocate for all senior issues. Bill and his partner, Lola Young, who is our Treasurer and a fearless spokesperson for seniors in her own right, were a true power couple who made their mark in Sacramento to and throughout the state. In addition to Lola, Bill leaves his sons Louis and David, and his son-in-law Randy Hicks, who is also a long-time member and our very good friend and co-advocate.

Bill will be sorely missed by all those who care about seniors and the disability community.

Obituary: William Young was an advocate for the disabled

By Robert D. Dávila
bdavila@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jun. 3, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 3B

Cancer left William "Bill" Young disabled but did not stop him from helping others.

A client of In-Home Supportive Services, he was a vocal advocate for seniors and people with disabilities. He testified at hearings on aging and disability issues and served in the California Senior Legislature.

He also tutored young people as a foster grandparent volunteer. He taught math and English as a second language at Sacramento Job Corps and served as a role model by earning his General Educational Development diploma at age 70.

"He liked working at Job Corps, because they were all kids who needed a second chance," said his former wife, Lola Young, who was his full-time IHSS worker. "As someone with cancer, he was a firm believer in second chances."

Mr. Young died Saturday of lung surgery complications at age 76, his former wife said.

Giving back to others gave him purpose after he was diagnosed with a fatal form of lymphoma in 1988. Doctors removed lymph nodes from his face, neck and shoulder and transplanted a nerve, saving his life but leaving him disabled.

Mr. Young became an activist for seniors and disabled people. He served since 2002 in the California Senior Legislature, an appointed group that proposes legislation on senior issues. He joined Gray Panthers and spoke at Capitol hearings in defense of funding for IHSS and other programs that help seniors and disabled people live at home.

"When he was in front of the Legislature, he was the best speaker in the world," Sacramento Gray Panthers President Margie Metzler said, "because he was telling his story, and it was totally authentic."
Mr. Young received local and national awards for volunteering 33,000 hours at Sacramento Job Corps as a foster grandparent since 1995. He taught young people from 30 countries and sought grants to help students attend college.

"Bill was a total advocate for the kids," Foster Grandparent Program director Dennis Brodsky said. "He saw positive things in them that they didn't see."

William Daniel Young was born in 1932 in Lynchburg, Tenn., and reared in Alabama with two siblings by their sharecropper mother. He left high school to join the Air Force and was discharged at McClellan Air Force Base.

He owned a North Sacramento service station and worked in direct sales. He had a son from a first marriage that ended in divorce and another during his 28-year marriage to the former Lola Adorni.
He earned his GED six years ago through a Sacramento County program for veterans.

He received a doctorate degree from Redding University, which awards online degrees for work and life experience.

"Getting his GED was a matter of pride," Lola Young said. "He told the kids at Job Corps, 'Look, I got my diploma and you can get yours.' "

Bill Young:
Born: July 8, 1932
Died: May 30, 2009
Survived by: Sons, Louis Young of Salinas and David Rivers of Sacramento; brother, Roy Young of Sacramento
Services: 11 a.m. today at Southgate Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2299 Meadowview Road, Sacramento.
Donations: In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Senior Citizens Services Inc., 8580 Elder Creek Road, Sacramento 95828.

Links: For information about organizations Mr. Young served, view Senior California Legislature at www.4csl.org and the Foster Grandparent Program at http://dhaweb.saccounty.net/Senior/fosterGP.htm.

Notice in the Bee:
Bill Young
Visit Guest Book http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=455394480760&cid=full
YOUNG, Bill
Senior Senator
July 8, 1932 - May 30, 2009
He tutored at Sacramento Job Corps, attained a PhD in Education, and was a proud member of the California Senior Legislature, Gray Panthers, Area 4 Agency on Aging, Sacramento Mental Health Board and Foster Grandparents. Survived by loving wife Lola and two sons David and Louie. Memorial will be held on Wednesday, June 3, at 11:00 a.m. at Southgate Adventist, 2299 Meadowview Road. In lieu of flowers, contribute to Senior Citizens Services.

Picture from Senior Spectrum: Stephen Baetge, editor@senior-spectrum.com

A memorial Service will be held on Wednesday June 3, at 11:00 am. at Southgate Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2299 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, Ca. 95832. (24th Street is the nearest major cross street. Take I-5 South and exit Meadowview Road, or 99, exit at Florin and go west, south on 24th and right on Meadowview.) In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Senior Citizen Services, 8540 Elder Creek Road, Sacramento, Ca. 95828.

Lola’s contact information: (916) 428-4371
Email: young7458@att.net
Address: 7351 15th St.
Sacramento 95822

From Lola Young, Bill Young’s partner:

It is with regret that I must tell you that Bill passed away today, May 30, 2009. Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts that have been sent.

A memorial Service will be held on Wednesday June 3, at 11:00 am. at Southgate Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2299 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, Ca. 95832 In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Senior Citizen Services, 8540 Elder Creek Road, Sacramento, Ca. 95828

From Marty Omoto:
CDCAN REPORT

CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
ADVOCACY WITHOUT BORDERS: ONE COMMUNITY
REPORT #160-2009 MAY 31, 2009 – SUNDAY MORNING
California Disability Community Action Network Disability Rights News goes out to over 45,000 people with disabilities, mental health needs, seniors, veterans with disabilities and mental health needs, their families, workers, community organizations, including those in Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, African American communities, policy makers and others across California. To reply to this report write: MARTY OMOTO at martyomoto@rcip.com Website: www.cdcan.us

JUNE 2 PROTEST IN MEMORY OF BILL YOUNG - REMEMBERING BILL YOUNG, CALIFORNIA SENIOR LEGISLATOR – AND THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS TO HIS WIFE LOLA & FAMILY

BREAKING NEWS:
BILL YOUNG, SENIOR ADVOCATE, PASSES AWAY
MEMBER OF CALIFORNIA SENIOR LEGISLATURE
Young Was Much Respected & Loved Presence At State Capitol On Disability and Senior Issues – Memorial Service Set for June 3rd

SACRAMENTO, CALIF (CDCAN) [Updated 05/31/09 05:17 AM (Pacific Time) - Bill Young of Sacramento, a member of the California Senior Legislature and the Sacramento Gray Panthers, and a widely respected and loved advocate for seniors and people with disabilities, died Saturday evening (May 30th) at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento after being hospitalized for the past month.

Memorial Service Set for June 3 at 11 AM
A memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, at 11:00 AM on June 3, 2009 at Southgate Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2299 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, CA, 95832 (24th Street is the nearest major cross street. Take I-5 South and exit Meadowview Road). 2299 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, CA, 95832 http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

In lieu of flowers, wife Lola Young asks that donations instead be made to the Senior Citizen Services, 8540 Elder Creek Road, Sacramento, CA, 95828

Where to Send Email Messages
Messages and prayers for Bill and Lola Young can be sent via email to Lola Young at: young7458@att.net
Cards or letters can also be sent in care of the Sacramento Gray Panthers c/o Sacramento Gray Panthers, Post Office Box 19438, Sacramento, CA 95819. Or you can contact Lola directly at the contact information above.

Friends and Fellow Advocates Mourn Passing
Friends, fellow advocates and state policymakers across the State are reacting with sadness to the news of the death of Bill Young.

John Wilkins, a disability advocate from Fresno, mourned Young’s death, saying that “Bill was a passionate, vocal advocate for our cause and his loss is particularly hard at this time of such struggle.”

Sandra Fitzpatrick, executive director of the California Commission on Aging sent an email to Lola Young writing that she was “sending you prayers and wishes for the strength you will need. Know that so many people are there for you.”

Connie Arnold, a disability rights advocate and friend of both Lola and Bill Young, said earlier this month when he was first hospitalized that, Bill Young “...has been a strong and powerful advocate for In-Home Supportive Services program to allow seniors and persons with disabilities to remain living independently in their own homes.”

Bill & Lola Young Prominent Advocates At State Capitol
Until recently, Bill and Lola Young were both active in giving testimony, public comments at various budget and other legislative hearings and speaking to hundreds at protest rallies over the years, advocating for rights of seniors and people with disabilities, particularly on the issues impacting budget cuts to In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) and SSI/SSP grants to the elderly, blind and disabled

Bill Young received In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) and Lola is his IHSS worker. The couple was profiled last year in the Sacramento Bee and Lola Young was the previous chair of the Sacramento County IHSS Advisory Committee.

His passing follows the loss of another respected and loved senior advocate, Joan B. Lee, who died 9 months ago. Both were members of the Sacramento Gray Panthers.

Bill Young Was Active In California Senior Legislature
Bill Young was a “Senior Senator” in the California Senior Legislature and until his illness, had consistently pushed for rights of seniors and people with disabilities to live in their own homes.

The California Senior Legislature is a volunteer body whose primary mission is to gather ideas for legislation at the state and federal levels, craft the ideas into formal proposals, prioritize the proposals, present them to members of the Legislature or the Congress, and advocate for laws implementing the ideas.

The California Senior Legislature was founded largely through the efforts of then State Senator Henry Mello, who passed away in 2004, introduced legislation in 1980 (ACR 129) that requested that the California Commission on Aging call a session of what was then known as the “Silver-Haired Legislature”.

Bill Young, who always spoke proudly of his involvement in the California Senior Legislature, represented Planning and Service Area 4.

Personal Note from Marty Omoto:
The loss of Bill Young, especially at such a time when the people he fought to protect are facing devastating threats with major budget cuts, is beyond measure. He was a tremendous advocate who was deeply loved, respected, admired and needed not only for his advocacy work, but what he meant to so many people in Sacramento and across the state simply as a friend. We miss him terribly as a friend most of all.

For his wife and constant companion, Lola, the loss is not only beyond measure, but perhaps even beyond words. For anyone who knew or heard Bill speak, one would understand that. When he spoke, he was passionate, forceful but most of all, he could be mix humor and a certain homespun wisdom, that was compelling and good for the soul to listen to. Somehow, he nearly always made it first in line to speak at so many public hearings. He was there. So was Lola. For all of us.

Bill had such a strong and memorable personality – as does Lola, and they each were known for their individual advocacy that was effective, strong and unrelenting. And yet, despite their strong individual personalities, they were thought of by those who knew them (or were the targets of their advocacy) as an unbreakable, unstoppable advocacy team.

Even if you did not know Bill – or have not yet known Lola – their work together and individually has impacted the lives of thousands of people with disabilities and seniors, people with mental health needs and others across California.

Both have done so much for so many for so many years for other people with disabilities, mental health needs, for seniors and others.

As I mentioned and wrote earlier this month, I hope people will bear with me that I am sending out these reports – as I did for others who have made a remarkable difference, like Joan Lee of the Sacramento Gray Panthers, who passed away last August. We miss her still – we always will. So many others too – Donald Roberts, Betty Bacon, Jim Sanford, Noel Neudeck, Natasha Littletree, Warren Mattingly, Shirley Klein. We miss them all.

It is important for all of us to always remember that our advocacy is always based on the simple truth that a life matters.

And the life of Bill Young did matter. And the life of his wife and our friend Lola Young matters still.
Pray for Bill, and send messages of comfort and support, including your prayers and thoughts to his wife Lola and their family. They have always been there for all of us. With Bill’s passing, Lola and their family need us to be there for them.

It is such a difficult time for the communities – for the people – that Bill fought for so hard and for so long. It bothered him greatly and moved him as an advocate to be there for others, even when he himself was threatened by many of these budget cuts personally.
The same was true of Lola too.

As we continue in the coming days and weeks and months in our efforts to fight against injustice and to fight for the rights of people with disabilities, mental health needs and seniors and low income families, let’s remember the life and work of Bill Young – bring comfort to Lola.
And let us never forget that their lives – and the lives of everyone we fight for – matter.

Thank you Bill Young for your life and what you meant to us. And our constant prayers and thoughts and love to Lola Young and Bill’s Family.

Senior Spectrum article, 2006:

http://www.senior-spectrum.com/news07_050906/index.html
By Stephen Baetge
Editor
Let’s face it, it’s people like William “Bill” Young, 73, that make you proud to be an American. In a most recent accomplishment, Young received the 2006 Heart of a Hero “Knowledge of the Heart” award for his active role in mentoring youth and serving as a role model to local teens.

The Heart of a Hero award is sponsored by California Family Fitness and Florin Road Consolidated Charities-Florin Road Bingo, and it honors people, programs and companies helping kids in the four-county area each year to benefit the North Area and West Sacramento Teen Centers, which helps fund the free-of-charge after school drop in centers for kids and provides exceptional local role models.

In the company of elected officials, law enforcement and civic leaders, seven other awards were given out to people who have made a significant difference in the lives of youth in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties. The recipients were also honored for their efforts by the North Area Teen Center and the West Sacramento Collings Teen Center.

Young is a mentor and role model who has spent the last 11 years helping to counsel, tutor and share with kids through the Sacramento Job Corps, and he has been a foster grandparent volunteer since 1995.

Young participates in the annual Senior Legislature at the Capitol, and while very active in senior issues, he also makes time to share his life experience, education and outlook with kids five days a week at the Sacramento Job Corps.

Bill has donated somewhere around 27,000 hours of volunteer service to his foster grandchildren in the last 11 years. “Five days a week, eight hours a day,” he said.

But receiving awards for foster grandparenting and mentoring roles in the lives of local children is nothing new to Young. He is an inspiring person who says that working with youth helps him to stay active, and it gives him the best reason to get up each morning.

“In April of 2005, I received the MetLife Foundation’s National Volunteer award for the work I do with teens and the senior legislature,” he said.

“Being a foster grandparent is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, and it means more to me than I can ever say. I’ve been doing it since 1995 when I saw an ad for foster grandparenting in Spectrum. I called and immediately got involved. I spend five days a week with Job Corp youth in the 16 to 26 age category,” said Young.

“I received the MetLife Foundation Award at the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington D.C.” said Young. “Karla Crawford, executive director of the foster grandparenting program in Sacramento nominated me for the award because of my foster grandparenting and my involvement in senior advocacy.”

“I was also given a J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award in 2000 for being a volunteer foster grandparent.”

“And then,” Young added with a blush, “I received a commendation from President Clinton in 2000 for receiving the Golden Rule award.”

“And in 2002,” he added, “I received a commendation from President George W. Bush for volunteering more than 4000 hours.”

“Those kids I foster grandparent are the most important thing in my life. They come from over 30 different countries, and they call me Grandpa,” he said with pride.

It was a long road from his hometown of Lynchburg, Tennessee, where he was born in 1932, to his present time in the Senior Legislature.

Young grew up near Huntsville, Alabama, and he joined the Air Force in 1952 before completing his senior year. He was raised by his mother, and they were sharecroppers. He has one brother and one sister.

Young came to California in 1954 with Air Force, and he was stationed in Japan during the Korean War, where he was trained as aircraft engine mechanic and supply technician.

Young saw no combat in the Air Force, and after the service, he worked in a variety of careers, from the service station business to photography and sales.

“I eventually took my GED and received a high school diploma,” said Young. “And I spent a four-year apprenticeship in radio and radio repair.”

“I then took U.C. Berkeley extension courses at McClellan AFB,” he said humbly, “And eventually I received a PhD in adult education.”

“I speak moderate Japanese and Spanish, too, and in 2005, I completed the U.C. Davis Mini-Medical School.”

Besides foster grandparenting five days a week, Young is a senior senator. “The second most important thing in life to me is the Senior Legislature,” said Young.

“Just like the regular legislature, California has 80 senior assembly members and 40 senior senators. They are voted in by the county Area on Aging groups.”

“I spent six months as a senior assemblyman, then moved into the senior senator position. I’ve been there ever since, doing my best to help seniors through the critical issues facing us all. I’ve served three two-year terms, and now that the senior senator has changed to four-year terms, I’m just beginning another four-year term,” said Young.

“In the Senior Legislature, we take over the State Capitol in Sacramento for four days each year,” he said with a laugh. “And the State Capitol is also where I serve on the Social and Community Services committee. I often wear two badges.”

“There are many tough issues facing seniors right now, and whether you’re rich or poor, male or female, working or retired, you need someone in your corner. That’s what the Senior Legislature is all about, and that’s what I am all about.”

“Lola is my ex-wife, but she is also my fulltime, live-in caretaker. We have a 46-year-old son named Louis who lives in Salinas. I am disabled. Around 20 years ago, I was diagnosed with a fatal form of cancer, lymphoma carcinoma. Through treatment and drastic lifestyle changes, I’ve been cancer-free for 18 years,” Young said with pride.

And as an interesting side-note, Bill Young did not know about a son he had named David “Daniel” Rivers for 45 years.

“His mother didn’t tell him I was the father until he was eight or nine years old,” said Young.
“David, 48, is now a Paratransit driver in Sacramento, and a friend of mine was talking to him on a trip. She heard his name and mentioned it to Lola, saying the man sounded like a relation to me. I called him, and we met last Thanksgiving. He is definitely my son, and we now see each other weekly.”

And Bill Young’s footprints are everywhere now, from the halls of the State Capitol, where he is an advocate for senior issues, to the Sacramento classrooms where he spends eights hours a day teaching youth from around the world how to be an American.

Those students are learning from one of the best, and a majority of senior advocates say the critical senior issues being heard are thanks to people like William D. Young.