On Saturday, January 28th, our first and long-time board Chair, Dr. Paul F. O’Rourke, passed away. Paul helped establish Operation USA (then known as Operation California) as an an agile, effective relief agency which could immediately respond to disasters in many of the world’s most dangerous places.
He traveled with us to Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Ethiopia, Tibet, China and Nicaragua. Having spent more than a half century in numerous governmental and nonprofit public health agencies as well as having an earlier career as a community-based physician in East Palo Alto, CA, Paul was well versed in anti-poverty and public health programs. He was unyielding in his commitment to Operation USA over 32+ years.
He will be greatly missed.