Thanks to the Memorial Tree Program of the Piedmont Beautification Foundation, a newly planted Valley Oak now strands 20 feet tall in Dracena Park to honor the memory of Piedmont native Victor Clifton Wykoff Jr., who passed away on Sept. 16. The Tree Program makes it possible for family and friends to honor loved ones, living or deceased, in a manner which benefits Piedmont in several important ways.
Vic Wykoff, as his family and friends called him, grew up a resident of Scenic Avenue and attended Piedmont Schools. He did not leave Piedmont until his graduation from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall (now Berkeley Law). Shortly after graduation Vic married Marilyn Brown, also a native of Piedmont. The pair met thanks to a blind date arranged by Piedmonters Fran and Cameron Wolfe.
The Wykoffs moved to Stockton when an opportunity to join Marilyn’s stepfather Parker Holt in managing his Caterpillar Tractor dealerships arose. Greatly expanding on the example of Holt, Wykoff soon began what would become a lifelong passion for planting trees. Often using seeds taken from fallen acorns, Vic planted Valley Oaks everywhere he went in the Central Valley. He planted them on his own property, in parks, on the property of farming clients, and wherever he could find an appropriate site.
Following his retirement, Wykoff moved to the Carmel Valley. There he switched to planting Monterey Cypress Trees. Before the wedding of his son Charles, Vic planted enough Cypress Trees to give one to every couple attending the wedding. The Wolfes raised theirs until it outgrew its container, at which point it was donated to the City where it now grows in Piedmont Park.
Nothing could be more appropriate than to have Vic’s own Valley Oak growing in Dracena Park. In November the Wykoff Family will be joined by the Wolfe Family (which sponsored the tree through the PBF Program) to attach to the tree the tag honoring Wykoff.
Now that the City and PBF have embarked upon a program to reforest the entire city, replacing trees that are suffering from climate change with new trees that will better survive current conditions, there are more reasons than ever to donate a tree.
Visit the PBF website HERE for more information.
Cameron, many thanks for this memory of Frank’s brother, Vic Wykoff. And what a fitting memory, the Valley Oak. I had great fun and learned from Vic riding “shotgun” as he drove the Sherman Clay delivery truck around the Bay Area during the holiday season. I was a PHS senior; he must bave been at Boalt Hall. He would prod me to get the next delivery address from the old Thomas Bros. maps, “Faster, Stehr! Faster!”