Government watchdog Bob Suhr of Scotts Valley was honored post mortem with a California state flag given to his widow, to be flown in a park he helped build in his hometown of Norwalk, Ohio.
Julie Suhr accepted the flag from Bob Thomas, the chairman of the California Senior Alliance, and Vic Marani, the group’s executive director, who also represents Sen. Sam Blakeslee’s office, during a small ceremony last week in Scotts Valley.
Julie Suhr, a longtime Scotts Valley resident, was among a dozen relatives who flew to Ohio over the weekend to attend the dedication of The Suhr Family Park. Bob Suhr donated $100,000 to help build the park in the town where the couple met. The California flag, which previously flew over the state Capitol in Sacramento, will fly beneath the Ohio state flag at the park.
“I will see that they do on Saturday at the dedication,” Julie Suhr said June 16.
Bob Suhr started the project six years ago and, according to his wife, signed the check to pay for the park only hours before he died Oct. 10 at the age of 91.
Thomas said Suhr was honored with the flag as one of the original six founders of the California Senior Alliance in 2005.
“He was one of five ‘Bobs’ in the group,” Thomas said.
The conservative group helps educate older men and women, with information about potential property tax exemptions, utility bill discounts and community benefits available to them.
Suhr was best known for his work as a watchdog on public employee pensions. He would often write commentaries and letters to the editor for local newspapers on the subject of worker compensation.
