Hard to imagine someone born in the tinseled city of Hollywood, finding a home in a bedroom community like Hemet, but I found a lady with that background. Last week we sat down for a breakfast interview at Four Seasons, a somewhat elegant retirement community on the far west side of Hemet.

Robin Lowe has a long history of being her own person, doing her own thing and with the encouragement of her parents. Growing up in the View Park area of Los Angeles, she attended both the Lutheran Parochial and Englewood Unified School District.

“My mother was an RN. She applied for medical school but was turned down. So she opened three nursing homes (known as sanatarium in those days) and became a successful businesswoman.

“For a while, my dad owned a hardware store. After some time at that, he went to work for American Hospital Supply Company and finally settled into the automobile business where he operated a successful enterprise until he was injured in an automobile accident.”

Her parents were progressives who believed strongly that women had the right to anything a man could do at a time when that was not a popular idea in a country pretty much dominated by white men when it came to business.

“My father was a veteran of World War II, and they waited until the war ended before getting married. Then I came along, and they both decided I would not be the victim of parents who both worked. They wanted a traditional upbringing for me. So she sold her businesses and concentrated on being a good mother to me. My father was supportive of my independence. He wanted me to learn, and I was avidly involved from day one in social issues. I had a yearning for knowledge, and some of my most fun times with my father was when I worked with him the garage, learning to do stuff — learning how things worked.

“I was adept at blowing up car engines. He wasn’t too happy with me when that happened with the first car he bought me, a VW. I gutter sniped. Since he owned a Chrysler Automobile business, I grew up around cars and garages. He taught me how to respect and take of cars, how to change a tire, make sure the radiator had water and check the dipstick so that I didn’t forget to see that the car had enough oil.

“My mother and grandmother taught me how to be a good home maker. It was a time the family unit still existed. We didn’t sit around with a crappy cell phone. I don’t understand how a family having dinner in restaurants and there is dead silence. Every cotton-picking one of them is fingering a cell phone, like it was the main entre.”

Robin was an only child because mother was older and unable to have more children. “However, it was important to them that I had a relationship with all my cousins and extended family. They made sure that I went back to visit them every year in Illinois. Much of my father’s family lived in Illinois, including my grandparents. My cousins are like brothers and sisters to me. So we have always been a close family. My mother’s parents lived in California so they were an integral part of my life growing up. It was a rare occasion that we did not spend Sundays with the family. So family structure was implanted in my mind from birth.”

HOW DID SHE BECOME INVOLVED WITH LOCAL POLITICS?

“My parents introduced me too community events: President of the PTA Father’s Club and Pancake Breakfast Club. They were football parents and I became scorekeeper for the high school team. My first boyfriend was captain of the baseball team, so I was into that kind of thing and my folks promoted that for me. They wanted me to be aware of social issues.”

Robin had retired from Bell Telephone Company in Chicago because they wanted to transfer her to their Lab in Morris Town, New Jersey. A born and raised product of Southern Sunshine, she preferred sunshine to the East Coast’s cold and freezing winters.

How did she meet her husband, Mel?

“That’s an interesting story. He was superintendent on an air conditioning job in Riverside County, doing construction work in 1984. We were both working on that job. I used to kibitz him because he seemed always to be late. I later discovered that we lived in the same neighborhood when I was a teenager, although we went to different schools. He also lived in the San Fernando Valley and was one of my Godsister’s friends. I knew a girl that he was dating, but he and I had never met. So here we were in Hemet in our forties, both the product of previous marriage and divorces. My aunt and uncle had lived in Hemet since 1961 and my parents came here in 1974 after my dad’s accident. So I knew Hemet and had spent a lot of time here over the years.

“My mother invited him to Easter Dinner after church. He asked if he could go to church with me the next Sunday. Of course, he could. My mother was crazy about him. He ended up renting an apartment in a building we managed.

“My mother died in 1986 and six months later, we were already living in Hemet, on a Sunday morning we had come home from Riverside where were property managers. My father was sitting at the kitchen table, busy writing out his check for church that morning. He put his book away and handed me a newspaper. ‘I want you to read this article. You’re going to build that library in Hemet.’ The city council had just turned down a grant for 10 million dollars to build a new library. That money went to three other libraries. ‘You are going to run for city council and that will be your issue. I’ll give you the money you need to get started. Not a lot, but you’re going to get that library built. I can’t believe that the best they can do is that little building at Florida and Buena Vista.’ I had not even thought about running. There was an opening on the planning commission. So I went to see Lori Van Arsdale about the Planning Commission vacancy. I knew a lot about engineering because during my years with the telephone company my accounts were with the U. S. Government and banking industry in Illinois. Consequently, I felt I could work out fine on the Planning Commission.

Lori suggested she might be the right choice for a City Council seat to which Robin replied, “I have only been back from Illinois for a couple of years. I need to know the community better.” Lori insisted that she had been coming to Hemet from Los Angeles for years and that she probably knew the Valley better than she thought since she visited with aunt and uncle here for years.

I had been on a school board in Illinois for ten years. I thought I had something to offer and would be giving back to the community,”

Apparently, Lori was rather convincing since she did run and was re-elected several times.

Hemet was beginning to see a rebirth of development other than mobile home parks.

“At that time, Valley Hermosa was coming forward with the rest of their plan to finish that property. The federal government stepped in to deny any senior-only projects. That’s when Lori Van Arsdale and I started our campaign to ensure senior housing was protected. We were fighting the federal government. House Speaker Gephardt came out to Hemet and promised us he would take care of it, but two years later, we still didn’t have action. When the two of us met with government officials in Orange County, we were threatened with arrest by Federal Marshals for whatever reason. We never did know why. We returned to Hemet and met with Congressman Sonny Bono. He even came to Hemet to demonstrate with us. Thanks to him and other demonstrations were set up throughout the United States. We brought 20,000 people to our support at the hearings in Ontario.

“HUD had the idea that we should live by a completely different situation that existed on the East Coast. What they were suggesting was totally assisted living whereas, we preferred to live independently. Our attorney donated her time to our cause and wrote the amendments that needed to be put into the bill to have them ready for the Unruh Act in California. We knew we’re going to have trouble in Sacramento and we did, but finally got it through the legislature.”

She considers that to be the highlight of her 16 years on the City Council, but finally getting the new public library opened in downtown Hemet rates high on her list of accomplishments. She has served on more committees and panels than can be listed, among them Chairwoman of RCTC, Chairwoman for the County Integrated Plan committee, Chairwoman for the Endangered Species K-Rat Committee.

“When I went on that Board, the K-Ray Agency was charging $2500 a house for K-Ray protection. The problem was that there were only one or two persons actually elected that Commission. The rest were staff I was encouraged to get more elected commissioners and we did.”

Robin has long been involved in Republican politics in a county that is one of the most conservative in the state, but I sensed some truly liberal ideas in our conversation. She is a lovely blonde who wouldn’t allow a picture until she visited her hairstylist. A blonde but not a ‘dumb blonde.’ She is intelligent with a real down-home personality, but don’t ever take her to be weak in any instant. She has waded through more slings and arrows and probably has the battle scars to prove it, but she is one tough cookie and I don’t think anybody who would decide to take her on should underestimate her abilities. She has survived political wars and many of her adversaries have made the mistake of taking her on and paid dearly for that mistake. Just sayin’

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Her looks and demean belie the streaks of grey and some sixty-plus years. She shows no signs of age. Ann Record is a human dynamo. Her eyes twinkle with mischief, ambition, and ‘let’s get on with the show.’ She is a real trooper who has devoted her whole life to the service of others in one manner or the other.

 How did she come this far and where is she headed? I asked those very questions. “My parents moved to the San Jacinto Valley when I was four years old. They were both very involved with community activities. Dad was a doctor; mom was a registered nurse. She gave up her nursing career and immersed herself in the Family Health Center and Family Service activities such as Mental and the Physical Health Services Association.

 She encouraged Ann and her six siblings to do the same. Helping others became a way of life for the entire family.

 “All seven of us kids were expected to follow our parents into the field of service beyond self, and we did it willingly.”

 They all volunteered whenever help was needed.

 After graduation from high school, she married Randy Record, whose family shared a dedication to service within the community. Her husband’s father, Clayton Record, also instilled in his children the importance of community. Clayton went on to serve several terms as Riverside County Board of Supervisor. Ann’s mother became good friends with the elder Record, and they shared a mutual interest in both private and public service ideas so merging of the two families was a boon to both families.

 Following college, Ann took a teaching position at Hemet High School, where she taught specific elements of agriculture, such as plant culture.

 “I enjoyed teaching, but I took time away after we started a family which turned out to be two beautiful daughters.”

 She took several years off to get her daughters off on the right foot and then went back to teaching but instead of returning to agriculture, she switched to elementary education and during that time she went back to school to obtain a master’s degree after which she taught in the San Jacinto School system where she taught until retirement 3 years ago. However, retirement is just a word to this lady with the drive of a steam engine who finds time to shuttle back and forth from our valley to San Diego where to her two grandchildren, back home for a spell and hen off to a young grandson in Paso Robles.

 She is still involved as much as ever in the community here. She still carries a full plate of local duties.

 “I serve on the board of The Western Science Center by Diamond Valley Lake and also the board of Healthy Family Foundation, helping with their fundraisers. I work with them. I’m not in charge of anything. There are folks who do it as a full-time job. I only help out where needed and when asked.”

 I have no doubt she will be needed when she is 90 and no further doubt that she will live beyond that age. Her kind does not go quietly because they always find something or somebody that needs help. A rare gem that we’re proud to declare A Profile In-Service. Just sayin’

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 “I’ve always felt a sense of duty to others.  It seems to be a part of who I am.,”   She says. “While operating the optical business in Hemet, I decided to go back to school in 1996 after my sons were grown to pursue a  Dr. Of Optometry degree. With all the other things I had going on in my life, although eleven units short of obtaining my Bachelor’s Degree, and working in the optics field for many years, the School of Optometry in Fullerton was willing to accept me as a student, allowing me to fulfill the last few units of my Bachelor’s.

I considered going back to school to satisfy the requirements. However, about the same time, HMOs were taking over in the medical industry and providing much fewer reimbursements for services. That makes me decided to let that wait for a while. In retrospect, I wish I had done so.”

 In addition to the business, she joined Kiwanis and was on the board for many years, including two terms as president and received the Kiwanis Distinguished President Award.” Among her other many appointments over the ensuing years, she was Chairman of the Hemet Valley Chamber of Commerce and chosen as Citizen of the Year in 2000. She was involved in the Valley Economic Development Corporation and THE Center as a board member for eleven years and counting.  Served as a board member during the inception of The Children’s Museum, and in Soroptimists for a short time. Citizen of the year, Kiwanis Distinguished Person Award at Kiwanis.

Between 2000 and 2001 she took a position with Golden Village RV Resort in Hemet as Events Director. “I had been in the optical business for 26 years, and it was time to make a change. The business climate at the time was somewhat uncertain. However, right after the terrorist attack on New York’s Twin Towers, I had the opportunity that changed my life. I had never been interested in politics when I started working in the offices of Congresswoman Mary Bono. I developed the utmost respect for her and loved the work. It was difficult to leave her and the position I loved and his position. I loved our ability to help people, to be working at something so much larger than myself. 

When I could make a difference in someone else’s life, it made the efforts worthwhile. When we were able to cut through the red tape and help veterans to obtain their benefits in a couple of months, it meant everything to me. Politics had little or no appeal to me before that.” After seven years, she began to consider the possibilities that a member of Congress had no assurance of employment beyond their current two-year term. That gave her pause to think about her future. “I decided to move on because of my security. Even so, it was a tough decision because I was leaving an employer that I respected and admired.”

She voted with her gut feelings, even when staff may have had other ideas, which wasn’t often. She always did her research before coming to any decisions. It impressed me that she placed the right thing above any political goal. That had a significant influence on me.

 What motivated her to run for political office? “If anyone had told me that I would run for City Council, I would have told them they were a little bit off. But one should never say never because circumstances change and we are all motivated by a cause. I am a staunch believer of home rule, so when certain elements wanted to eliminate our fire department and hire the county to fight our fires, it was time to stand up for the right cause. When responsibilities are placed in the hands of an outside organization, the city loses and no longer has any say-so over its destiny. I believe that is the wrong way to operate a city. I did not want us to lose control of one of our most important safety organizations. I knew I could fight for it and knew that once committed I would not back away. More importantly.”

 And that was her reason to run for office.  She ran for a seat being vacated by Councilman Foreman.  Rick Crimeni ran for the same position and seemed to be leading and was thought to win. “On election night Rick, myself and several others were hanging out at The Brickyard on Harvard Street waiting for the returns. Rick was running ahead of me. The final vote count was not available for two or three weeks. We were all certain he had beat me, and I was congratulating him. As a nobody from nowhere, I was astonished that I survived and found myself as a City Council Woman.”

Since that time, she has been re-elected and served as Mayor twice. As to whether she will run again next year, she is the typical politician. “I don’t know,” she says with enough hesitation to make suspect that she will.  Once again, as she aims her arrows into the future, she adds, “It is becoming harder and harder to stay in California.” She also believes people have the wrong impression as to how much authority as a  rotating mayor has. “The only thing that I do differently is to run the meeting and have more ceremonial duties. It is not like an elected mayor who answers to the voters individually. It takes 3 out of 5 votes to get anything done under a city manager form such as we have in Hemet.”

I gathered that she would prefer an elected mayor rather than a ceremonial one. In conclusion, I asked what she saw for herself up to the road. “I’ve always enjoyed painting during my leisure time. I haven’t had much of in several years. I love working with oils and acrylics and also portraits.  Something I thoroughly enjoy and certainly miss.”

She did mention that retirement would help her do that as well as having more time to spend with her granddaughters and family.  However, I got the impression that retirement is an alien vista for this lady who has devotion to others written in her persona. I came away from my interview with the distinct impression that Ms. Wright will be foraging about seeking new ways to be of service to others. Amazing the opinions, we have people until we sit down and have one on one conversation with them.

The Chronicle and this reporter are pleased to honor her with this week’s Profile in Service. rustystrait@gmail.com

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