Maxine Lane will celebrate her 98th birthday this July along with more than five decades of service to UC Santa Cruz students, staff, faculty and retirees. Maxine was among UC Santa Cruz’s early employees, joining the university in 1969. She retired in 1991 and joined the Retirees Association immediately—remaining an active member to this day as chair of the scholarship committee and the driving force behind the UCSC Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship.
A storied career
Maxine started her career with UC Santa Cruz as secretary to Harry Zenner, assistant business manager at the time. Their offices were located at the Central Services Building. Maxine was outspoken and had occasional disagreements with Zenner who would bet her a penny that he was right.
“I’d often find a penny on my desk, taped to a small piece of paper with a note, You won! on it,” Maxine says with a smile.
Maxine excelled in her job, but never received the five percent annual salary increase in effect at that time. That’s because she kept getting promoted instead. An assistant was hired for Maxine and promotions followed frequently.
Maxine says she loved working at UCSC and found the people she worked with inspiring. Her husband, Bruce Lane, was made principal architect by his boss, Wendell Brase, which added to her enjoyment of working at the university.
The next chapter
Maxine joined the UCSC Retirees Association upon her retirement in 1991. She joined because she wanted to be around friends and enjoy social connections. Maxine says the association is much the same today as it was when she originally joined—only larger—hosting speakers, planning events, supporting scholarships, etc. She served as president for two terms.
“The most rewarding part of being part of the Retirees Association is still getting to work with dedicated people and enjoying their company,” Maxine says.
Supporting veteran scholars
Some time after joining the Retirees Association, Maxine was tasked—along with Nancy Pascal, Mary Wells and others—about how to spend money from a new scholarship program. Money from the first program awarded $50 for books. They decided to create a veterans’ scholarship; when Maxine’s husband, Bruce, learned of this, he said he wanted to give a full scholarship, which was then $500. (The amount was later increased to $1,000). Upon Bruce’s passing his obituary said, “The family prefers remembrances to the UCSC Foundation for the UCSC Retirees Association Scholarship Fund.” More than enough for three full scholarships was received and after the first scholarships were awarded, money continued to be given in his honor which resulted in the Retirees’ board voting to create a UCSC Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship. This includes Maxine propagating succulents for sale to raise scholarship monies, a passion resulting from working with her grandmother in the garden when she was young.
When asked how many succulents she propagated, she replied with a smile, “Heaven only knows, but it’s a lot!”
Maxine extends a personal touch to all scholarship donors, sending them handwritten thank-you notes for their contributions.
A full dance card
In addition to the work with the Retirees Association, Maxine has traveled extensively with her husband, Bruce, to every continent, including Antarctica, India, Africa and Japan which are at the top of her favorites that she and Bruce toured. She remains active with her garden club and church. At her church, she is currently creating and funding the start of social programs for young people over 18 years of age and for older unmarried people. These programs are scheduled to become active in August 2024 and will involve all Catholic churches in the county. Maxine stays in shape by walking in her house with a planned route from room to hallway and walks about 50 times per day—making it around a mile.
The Retirees Association thanks Maxine for her dedicated involvement and service, and for sharing her inspiring story.
To support the Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship for military veteran students, visit UCSC’s Giving page, or email giving@ucsc.edu.
