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Do you have an AAUW Morgan Hill friend who seems to do everything and to do everything well? Who has a positive effect on everyone she knows? Who acts on what she believes in and leaves all of us better for it? And who tells wonderful stories about herself, her ideas, her work, and her family? We were lucky to have such a friend in Beth Dunham Wyman. Her full life provides us with stories of all kinds.

During meetings of the Friday Writers group, which she founded, “Beth told us countless stories about her life, passions, and adventures,” remembers AAUW MH member Margo Hinnenkamp. One of her passions was the history of Hiram Morgan Hill as well as the history of his eponymous city. Not only did Beth write her San Jose State master’s thesis in 1982 on “The History of Morgan Hill, California, From Indians to Incorporation,” she found one of Morgan’s last living relatives in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, whom she visited and interviewed. She returned with the only existing photos of Morgan, his preferred name, which she then published in her book “Hiram Morgan Hill: The Man, Not the Mountain.” As Beth remembered the drive from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau, she felt that people were watching her and probably wondering, “Who is that blonde stranger in that big white car?”

Born in Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1933, Beth’s family moved from their wheat farm to San Diego County in 1940. She earned her bachelor of arts degree in social studies from San Diego State College in 1954, during McCarthyism. Beth defended a SDSC professor attacked by Senator McCarthy, as she described in a 2020 Facebook post: “My husband and I defended the college professor and were subjected to an ‘investigation’ by the McCarthy ‘commission’ and listed on a local ‘suspect list.’ It was VERY SCARY! We realized that not only our local families but almost everyone was ‘scared’…” That seems to have been the beginning of Beth’s active political life.

Beth’s resumé (link to Beth-Wyman-DV.pdf) includes many years working for Santa Clara County in several roles: county homeless coordinator, Department of Housing, lecturer and advisor on historic preservation (1983-2001), and management analyst. During her time with the county, Beth met Janet Espersen who in October 1989 joined the County as the claims manager for the County and Transit District. By then, both Beth and Janet were AAUW members in Morgan Hill. 

Janet remembers, “In our careers we both [were] in positions that were previously occupied primarily by men. We shared some really funny stories about those experiences.” As a new County manager, Janet was required to take a four-month weekly class on the 30 departments of the County and Transit District, and it turned out that Beth led the training. “She had a great sense of humor and seemed to have endless knowledge and I found myself looking forward to these classes. She was chock full of information and if she didn’t immediately know the answer, she would research the question and get back to us.”

Beth’s full, active life included her family, especially her children Jeff and Barbara, and her grandchildren Mary Wyman and Nikki and Justin Sun.

Janet recalls that when Beth’s beloved daughter Barbara passed away from pancreatic cancer, Beth cared for Barbara’s children every day. She “drove over to their home in San Jose to get them ready for school and then drove back to pick them up from school and care for them in the afternoon until their father came home from work.” Sometimes she took them on excursions in San Jose, and occasionally the trip was more exciting than intended. (link to file “On the Freeway with Children.docx”)

Beth used her knowledge of Morgan Hill’s history even to correct a display in the Smithsonian Institution. Janet reports that “while visiting the Smithsonian [Natural History] Museum, she found that the information describing the poppy jasper stones…was incorrect. She sent them the corrected information [that poppy jasper is found only around Morgan Hill] but jokingly said that she didn’t have great confidence that they corrected this.”

Beth also has been an active AAUW member for more than 50 years. In July 2025, she was awarded the Honorary Life Membership.

Several of us AAUW MH members came to know Beth when we joined the twice-monthly Friday Writers Interest Group which she started in autumn 2009. With Beth’s guidance, the group thrived and grew, moving from meetings at BookSmart to meetings at members’ homes. She always warmly welcomed new members. Many of us were working on personal histories and family memoirs, and she encouraged us to share those stories that had never before had an audience.

Beth had already created dozens of anecdotes and stories about many aspects of her life, from childhood to the present, such as living on a Kansas farm, camping through Europe as a young woman, researching Morgan Hill’s history, and getting involved in local politics. We learned so much about our town and local history just from her stories.

And we learned what a caring, lively, and intelligent woman we had in Beth. Donna Dicker recalls missing a Friday Writers meeting at Beth’s home in its park-like setting. When she “called Beth to let her know that I would miss the opportunity to see her home, she invited me to stop by for a visit on my own. It was a lovely time when she showed me through her historic home and the surrounding grounds with the majestic oak trees. It was an unexpected gift to have one-on-one time with Beth.”

We may have come to think of Beth as one of those solid, magnificent oaks – always there, calmly representing the history of our place, caring for those around her. Mary Wyman said it best: “She was one of the most impressive, influential, and important women in my life. She will be deeply missed by all of us.”

Editor: Jenny R. Redfern. Contributors: Margo Hinnenkamp, Janet Espersen, Donna Dicker, Susan Brazelton, Mary Wyman