Wanda Broadie Alexander
Wanda Broadie Alexander began life in a small town in the great open spaces of Midwestern Kansas. Born of parents who had escaped farm life by means of college and career, she enjoyed yearly family camping adventures to the various National Parks (relatively new in those days) and felt the excitement of seeing her first bear. Her real and abiding passion for nature and all its creatures came later with a trip to the Galapagos after a series of personal losses of husband and parents culminated by the tragic and untimely death of her sister in an airplane crash in the early 70’s. The Galapagos experience brought an in-depth knowledge and appreciation for our shared life processes and the transforming nature of life and death. This led her to became actively engaged in environmental issues.
When she inherited 80 acres of unbroken prairie in the flint hills of Kansas, she donated it to Bethel College in Kansas where students learn to understand prairie ecosystems. The Broadie Habitat Preserve in Montana, which helps to preserve one of North America’s smallest, most vulnerable grizzly bear populations, is another result of her generosity and support. After purchasing 2.5 acres of hillside land on a dead-end road in Los Gatos, CA, Wanda wanted to be sure that the wildlife corridor on her property would be preserved, which led her to obtain a conservation easement on her land through the Wildlife Land Trust.
Wanda was the CEO of ACT for Mental Health, a small mental health agency in downtown San Jose. She fostered this agency for many years with the mission of providing quality mental health care to folks who otherwise would not be able to afford it. She received a Jefferson Award in 2013 for her decades of leadership in offering mental health services. Throughout her professional life as therapist and mental health clinician, she sought to find ways to help clients and patients connect with nature as part of healing. She spent many holidays on eco travel, which spanned every continent, including the Antarctic. She was an avid photographer, capturing gorgeous images of animals, plants, people and landscapes.
Wanda was a frequent volunteer for our Chapter, and especially enjoyed helping with book and poster sales. She generously left her property to CNPS for an Environmental Education Center.
