Charlotte Lamb was a driving force in the creation of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art. Photo by Blaine Transue.
Charlotte Lamb, whose quiet devotion and astute intelligence made her one of Sonoma’s most effective supporters for the arts and for organizations that work to lift the spirits of the community, lost her year-long battle with cancer on Friday. She was 65. She leaves her husband, Jim Lamb, her sister Eleanor Caponigro, of Santa Fe, her nephew, John Paul Caponigro, of Cushing, Maine, and countless friends and admirers in Sonoma and around the world.
To those who knew her, she was an inspiration, an advisor, a role model and mentor. As Lia Transue, executive director of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, said in a dedication Saturday, “Although soft spoken…she commanded a room simply by entering it, her silence was every bit as powerful as her words.”
Behind the silence, residing in harmony with her love of art, music and people, was a deep background and trained expertise in business. According to her sister, after graduating from the University of Kentucky in Louisville, she went on to study international business at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. It was an uncommon choice for that time. “She may have been the only woman in that field at that time, in the university,” Caponigro said. Lamb went on to become a vice president of Chase in New York and later a senior vice president of Charles Schwab in San Francisco. Her combination of business skill and love for art made her a powerful advocate for the causes she supported. “She was a passionate, artistic, creative individual,” said Transue, “who managed to marry intellect and diplomacy with grace and dignity.”
Her many contributions to Sonoma are both highly visible, and subtle. Her friend, Jackie Piallat said, “She was a caring person. She would do little things for people, quietly, that people wouldn’t even know. She was kind to everyone. Not just generous–kind. There’s a difference.” Another friend, cookbook author, Paula Wolfert said, “A lot of what is best about Sonoma she reflected in what she did. When I think of her I think of two words: incredible decency. That’s it. Incredible decency.” Another friend, who shared her passion for food, Kathleen Hill, said, “Charlotte was famous for being quiet, and read economics and business the way I read food and politics.” Several friends mentioned that she was unassuming. “When they asked her to serve on the Green Music Center board,” said Hill, “she couldn’t imagine why they would want her. I told her they wanted her brain and global experience. They did.”
Robin Draper, associate vice president of Sonoma State University, said, “She was one of the most inspirational persons I’ve ever met. She was the kind of person that influenced others by her sheer example. She’s a role model for who I want to be.” Lamb’s contribution to the Green Music Center was a gift to Sonoma as well. “She was the one that opened up the whole project to the Sonoma Valley,” said Draper. “She would talk about it with people, and it would pique their interest, and she would bring them to a concert and say, ‘You really need to get to know Sonoma State and what’s going on with the Green Music Center. Join me in this project!’ It completely opened up the Valley. It bridged Sonoma Valley with Sonoma State.” And she did it, Draper added, “through her own quiet, gentle unassuming way.
In the City of Sonoma, her lasting contribution is the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, which she conceived with architect Vic Conforti and sculptor Jim Callahan. Lamb raised much of the money for it, and served on its board. Transue called her, “not only one of [the museum’s] founding members, but also one of its greatest supporters.”
Lamb supported other organizations as well. She served as president of the Sonoma Community Center, and as a mentor through the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, and she gave generously and often anonymously to many local nonprofits such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley.
“She was so good to people in the community,” said friend, Lois Gordon. “She knew what people would be good at, and encouraged them to do it.”
To those who knew her best, under her ladylike reserve, she had a great sense of humor. Bob Records, a friend of nearly 20 years said, “I could get her giggling till tears came down her cheeks. She was such a lady, but she loved to joke around.” Having said that, he thought for a while and added, quietly, “She was a nice presence.”
Part of the comfort people felt in her presence may have come from her own passionate value of friendship. “When she and Jim were pretty much retired and she told me they were moving to Sonoma,” said her sister, “she told me she was looking forward to being in one place long enough to have friends. She certainly had a lot of friends.”
