The Kiwanis Club of La Cañada has selected Katherine Markgraf as the La Cañadan of the Year to acknowledge her long-standing leadership and broad-based volunteer service throughout La Cañada Flintridge. Markgraf will be recognized with the 2023 honor at a celebratory luncheon at LCF’s The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday, March 27, at 11:30 a.m.
“I wish I had the proper words to express how appreciative I am,” Markgraf said.
“I adore our beautiful city, mostly because of the incredible residents and business owners who make it such a lovely place to call home. Time spent working with the Royal Court, Chamber of Commerce, my church and other LCF groups has been gratifying, and receiving this prestigious award is delicious icing on an already fantastic cake. The ability to participate in various LCF organizations is a true gift and is only made possible by the support of my loving and wonderful family,” she said.
The event marks the 64th annual awards ceremony since its inception in 1951 that aims to recognize an individual or couple fulfilling seven integral levels of volunteer service.
“Our Kiwanis Club is ecstatic to be honoring Katherine this year,” said Kiwanis Club President Joe Radabaugh. “I’ve personally seen her in action up close and can attest that she 100% embodies what it means to be La Cañadan of the Year.”
Event committee chairperson Trish McRae added, “We are thrilled to honor Katherine for all the volunteer work she has selflessly performed. We invite the public to join us as we thank her for her dedicated service, which has positively impacted our Foothills community.”
Markgraf has lived in La Cañada Flintridge since infancy and started volunteering at an early age. She was selected as Honored Queen of Job’s Daughters Bethel 226, doing service work in her early teens. After graduating from LCHS, she received her bachelor’s in psychology from UC Berkeley and completed her master’s from Cal State University, Los Angeles.
Markgraf was a California Street Hockey Association player from 1995 to 2011. The coed recreational sport hit the mark as she met her future husband, Phil Markgraf, when they were put onto the same team. They recently celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary and are proud parents of their son, Philip, a sophomore at LCHS.
As part of giving back, she helped conduct mock interviews at the Braille Institute to train students for the workplace from 1996 to 2003. From there, Markgraf served from 1999 to 2013 on the San Dimas Rodeo Scholarship Selection Committee.
She was elected as a director of the LCF Chamber of Commerce from 2003 to 2018. Markgraf went on to serve on the organization’s Executive Committee as recording secretary from 2008 to 2018 before transitioning to secretary in 2018. Since 2010, she has been a judge for Miss La Cañada Flintridge and, in 2017, became the Royal Court adviser, two duties she thoroughly enjoys.
In 2018, Markgraf was honored with the Les Tupper Award for her volunteer work, a recognition sponsored by the LCF Coordinating Council and presented by the city of La Cañada Flintridge.
New Year’s Day 2023 was special as Markgraf worked closely with the LCF Tournament of Roses Association and, for the first time ever, she was granted permission to have the LCF Royal Court queen and princesses walk alongside the LCF Rose Parade float down Colorado Boulevard. The event, watched by millions worldwide, proved to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those involved.
Markgraf received the 2024 Chamber of Commerce Golden Award for creating the 50th Anniversary Reunion of past Royal Court queens and princesses in the 2023 Fiesta Days Parade on Memorial Day.
Her present civic service includes serving as an LCF Parcel Tax Committee member since 2020 and current chairman; Paradise Valley Homeowners Association board member since 2002, serving as president from 2003-05; and a member of the O. Warren Hillgren Scholarship Fund Board of Directors since 2009.
A lifelong La Cañada Congregational Church member, Markgraf has served on various committees over the past 15 years, including helping in the bell choir and youth choir as a Sunday school teacher, on the finance and property board, and on the minister search committee. This year, she was named moderator. Service has been a keystone in Markgraf’s life. Her father was Pastor Emeritus Philip Longfellow Anderson of LCF’s Church of the Lighted Window, the oldest church in the valley.
Juggling family life, service and work has been a mainstay for Markgraf, as she currently leads a team for Grant Thornton LLP’s U.S. tax practice.
Volunteerism runs strong in her family, as Markgraf’s mother, Pat Anderson, was named the La Cañadan of the Year in 2013. Although separated by a 10-year gap, it is the first time a mother and daughter have achieved the same honor from the Kiwanis.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the luncheon celebration. Tickets are $60 per person and may be purchased by emailing the event’s chairperson at LCOY@lacanadakiwanis.org. Residents may also reserve tickets by mailing a check to the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada – La Cañadan of the Year, P.O. Box 33, La Cañada Flintridge, 91012. Make checks payable to the La Cañada Kiwanis Foundation. Be sure to include your name and guest’s name, email and phone number. The deadline to reserve tickets is March 20. For additional information, call Trish McRae at (818) 568-6411 and leave a message.
La Cañadan of the Year
Presented by Kiwanis Club since 1951
2023 Katherine Markgraf
2022 Sheri Morton
2021 Michael Davitt
2020 Greg Brown
2019 Harriet Hammons
2018 Vicki Schwartz
2017 Mike Leininger
2016 Jeanne Broberg
2015 Donald Voss
2014 Martha Burns
2013 Pat Anderson
2012 Nick Berkuta
2011 Terry Walker
2010 Clyde Hemphill
2009 Laura Olhasso
2008 Tom & Meredith Reynolds
2007 Mary Gant
2006 Richard Harris
2005 Anthony Portantino
2004 Joe Thompson
2003 Sherrill Carbonetti
2002 Gaylord Hammerwold
2001 Eileen Ferber
2000 Don & Shirley Hingst
1999 Wes Seastrom
1998 Joy Gifford
1997 Claire Slaughter
1996 Joan Freehan
1995 Ken and Sue Schechter
1994 David & Alice Spence
1993 Neal & Molly Brockmeyer
1992 Dr. Joel Smith
1991 Warren Gannon
1990 Jack & Mary Hastings
1989 Dr. Richard & Mary Alice Green
1988 Robert & Elizabeth Craven
1987 D. Sidney & Jean McVicker
1986 Kent Frewing
1985 Joseph L. DuPlain
1984 David & Shirley Herrman
1983 Dick & Shirley DeGrey
1982 Warren & Mary Ellen Hillgren
1981 Roger & Nila Barkley
1980 Joan Bachman
1979 Dr. Donald C. Ziehl
1978 Edmund J. Krause
1977 Jeanne Maus
1976 George L. Parrish
1975 Rev. Gary W. Demarest
1974 Beth Leonhard
1973 Dr. George Griffith
1972 Dr. Bill & May Brown
1970 Henry Swenerton
1969 Jane R. Hogle
1968 Richard Keilholtz
1967 Dr. William Pickering
1966 Gil Smith
1965 Dr. Samuel Ayres
1964 Les Tupper
1963 Jack Samuelson
1962 Ellen Ellis
1961 Jim Reynolds
1960 Buzzie Bavasi
1959 Robert Parks
1954 Frank Lanterman
1951 Ted Shroeder
NOTE: We are having technical problems getting photos online and apologize for them not being posted immediately.
First published in the March 14 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
