Thoughts from the Board: A Tribute to Charlie van Horne
Written by Jim Rosengarten
As we attempt to create some structure around the fellowship aspect of the Roothbert Fund, we are planning to send out a newsletter like this one about three times per year and have briefer emails during the other months. You will also receive separate emails inviting you to the different functions we have to build our fellowship - Pendle Hill meetings, Playing in the Spirit workshops, and other social events as they happen.
We hope to have a note from a board member in each of the newsletters. The content of that note will be wide open. In a recent newsletter for example, Charlie van Horne wrote a lovely piece about former fellow James Carse’s book, Breakfast at the Victory: The Mysticism of Ordinary Experience, which spurred me to buy a copy and became a summer meditation for me. As the most recent president of the Roothbert Fund, Charlie also wrote in the last newsletter about his tenure on the board. I thought it fitting that in my first stint as guest board columnist, that I would write a note of gratitude to Charlie.
Many of you have met Charlie van Horne over the years, I’m sure. He has been a very frequent attendee of the Pendle Hill gatherings. If you’ve had the pleasure of sitting next to him, you might have been intrigued by his copious notes and, especially, his doodles. (Not that I am guilty of such intrusive glances, of course!) He has an insatiable curiosity about practically everything, and a wealth of knowledge reflective of his eclectic interests and talents.
Charlie joined the board in 1986. He is one of the few board members who was not a Roothbert fellow, and the only one in the last several years; however, he embodies the Roothbert ethos as much as anyone does. This is, only in part, because he is the nephew (grand-nephew?) of Toni Roothbert, herself. He has published a biography of Toni that many of you have seen or even have a copy of - which has a beautiful collection of her professional portraits.
Charlie spent most of his professional life in the finance world, and that side of him has been an immense help to the Roothbert Fund, as he has helped the Board in its decisions around caring for the endowment created by his aunt and her husband, Albert Roothbert. While he did this for quite some time, it has been his last seven years on the board that I wish to all too briefly thank and praise him.
Seven years ago, Charlie assumed the role of President of the Fund after Blake Newton stepped down. Blake had been an indefatigable leader, following the model of the Fund in which the President or one or two other members of the board did an enormous amount of work - from guiding the board to reading all applications to setting up interviews and more. As Blake stepped down, it became clear that another model would have to be created to make the Fund sustainable, as we could not rely on the labor of just one or two individuals if we wished the Fund to continue to survive in the spirit that Toni and Albert intended. Charlie set to work to help that happen. He helped to cajole us board members to be more active; he delegated and encouraged movement to an on-line platform for applying; he encouraged the growth of fellowship activities wherever possible; and he worked hard to find board members with particular talents necessary to the board.
Charlie’s stewardship as president has made it possible for the board to transition to a structure that will continue to make the administration of the Roothbert Fellowship sustainable while also creating a structure that may reflect an even more collaborative leadership model. While Charlie has stepped down as President, he has agreed to remain on the board as we continue to frame our new leadership structure, bringing his much-needed combination of vision, practical administration, and institutional memory to the process.
Albert and Toni’s vision of encouraging people to put their spirituality into action for the greater good has been nurtured and advanced due to Charlie’s presence. For all he has done, we are immensely grateful. For all he will continue to do, we thank him in advance.