Louise O'Dea

Louise O'Dea has had a long relationship with Berkeley Rotary Club. Her husband John is a long-time active member and Louise has joined him at club meetings, social events, service projects, and fundraising activities. She has even traveled to Mexico for our international service.

Although some may have thought Louise was already a club member, she was only recently inducted into the club, where she received her new member badge and then had the "new member" red ribbon immediately removed. She had already completed the Blue and Gold tasks that earned her a golden bear pin, something that most new members accomplish in a year or more.

Louise was raised on the East Coast and spent three years in Switzerland as a child. She speaks some French from attending a French school there. As an adult, she worked in Boston, Minneapolis, and then the Bay Area. After receiving her degree in English from UC Berkeley, she began a 27-year career with the Contra Costa County Library system as a reference librarian. Most of those years she spent at the Kensington Library, but she also worked at the San Pablo and El Cerrito libraries. At the Kensington Library, she established Adult Services Programming, bringing in speakers like museum docents, musicians, historians, travel experts, and master gardeners for monthly presentations. She also established a continuing book club and knitting club, now in their 26th year.

Louise retired in 2014, and now spends her time volunteering for Rotary and other entities, traveling, and being with her growing family (4 children and 7 grandchildren).

Welcome, Louise, as an “official” Berkeley Rotarian!