Flora Hewlett

Flora Lamson was born in 1914 and raised in Berkeley, California, and she summered in the Sierra Nevada.[1][2][3] It was then that she met and became friends with Louise Hewlett, her future husband's sister, as both families had cabins in the Sierra.[3] She received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1935.[1][2] After graduation, she joined the Sierra Club and reconnected with her friend Louise, who reintroduced her to her husband, Bill Hewlett, the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard.[3]

In 1966, she co-founded the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation with her husband.[1][2][3] She sat on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and the San Francisco Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian in San Anselmo, California.[1][2] She also served on the Executive Committee of the World Affairs Council of Northern California and on the Board of Directors of California Tomorrow, an environmental non-profit organization.[1][2]

The Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, a collection of theological books serving the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, is named in her honor.[1][2] The Flora Family Foundation, created by her children, is also named in her honor.[3] Its symbol is the blue gentiana, her favorite flower.[3]

In 1939, she married Bill Hewlett, the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard.[1][2] They had five children and twelve grandchildren.[1][2] She was an elder of the First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto.[1][2] She died of cancer on February 9, 1977.[1][2][3]