Member Bios

Anne Geraghty

Anne grew up in Redwood Village, a small subdivision on the outskirts of Redwood City south of San Francisco. It was a neighborhood of children and families that cared about each other. Later, living in Sacramento's McKinley Park with block parties and kitchens overlooking the street, there was another sense of neighborliness.

Anne studied art history at San Jose State and city planning at the University of Pittsburgh. She worked for many years for the California Air Resources Board and was the founding president and executive director of WALKSacramento, a pedestrian advocacy organization. 
 
Cohousing has been an interest of hers for a long time. She's excited about bringing together a committed group to create a special place that will become a home as well as a community. 

“I love that I will be living in close proximity with friends spontaneously taking advantage of the many activities of this vibrant area .... and, of course, I love the fact that our site is very walkable and bikeable too.”

Stuart Pettygrove

Willa and I have lived in Davis for 40 years, and we raised two daughters there. I am a retired UC Davis Cooperative Extension soil scientist. I still occasionally teach Master Gardener soils workshops, and I get soil (aka dirt) under my nails by pulling weeds in our community garden plot.  My passion since age 12 is backpacking, but I'm active in two non-partisan citizen lobby groups, and that probably also qualifies as a passion.  I am excited to be preparing for the next phase of life by helping to create a cohousing community in West Sacramento.

Willa Pettygrove

​I learned about Cohousing when I went back for a master’s degree in City Planning at U. C. Berkeley in the nineties. One of my classes was called “Housing as if People Matter” taught by Clair Cooper Marcus. Now I’m retired and have a T-shirt with the Fred Babb motto “go to your studio and make stuff”. During COVID I’m clocking an hour a day at my sewing machine. My sister Fran Bowman, also a Washington Commoner, gave me the sign on my studio door that says “Don’t touch anything in here. Everything is strategically placed!” I’m also known to spend time in the kitchen and love to bake and make soup. When I go outside, it’s usually to tend some vegetables in my Community Garden plot, or my California native plants.

Janet Jensen

I currently live in the Watt/Arden area of Sacramento.   I retired four years ago from Kaiser as an Operating Room RN.  My interests are cycling, pickle ball, yoga, being outside in nature,  on the quieter side, reading, jigsaw puzzles, Jeopardy.  After being a pet owner most of my adult life, I am petless.  

Janet Wilson

Janet developed a keen interest in photography and travel long before joining her husband, Stu, in forming a freelance travel writer/photographer team with more than 100 stories published in print and on-line. Travel has been a source of inspiration and adventure ever since, including a walk across England in 2012. So far she has visited 45 US states and 81 countries on 6 continents.

Janet’s BA in History and Teaching Credential led her into elementary school classrooms in Marysville and Sacramento before she began working for the California Department of Health as an analyst and then manager, for 27 years. For even longer she has been researching her family history and genealogy. She has just recently discovered she descends from a “Pilgrim” who arrived on the Mayflower!
Janet and Stu both enjoy cooking and have belonged to their “gourmet group” for nearly 40 years, where they try new recipes and cuisines and share them with long-time friends several times a year. For nearly as long they have also belonged to a “wine-tasting group,” mostly an excuse to socialize, but also a chance to discover more about wine as a food, and beverage.
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Janet is now looking forward to a slightly slower pace—that is after she helps insure that Washington Commons becomes a properly designed and promptly constructed co-housing community in nearby West Sacramento, where its central, walkable, bikeable location beckons.    

Stuart Wilson

For 15 years Stu worked with his wife, Janet Wilson as a team of freelance writer/photographers, specializing in food, wine and travel.  Native Californians with a love of history and architecture, they have resided in Sacramento for more than 45 years, when not on the road.  They have written stories on wine, beer, dining, destinations and journeys set in Europe and North America, especially California. Their work has been published in Motorhome, Trailer Life, Sierra Heritage, and Brew magazines. They contributed regularly to RV Journal magazine including a regular column on obscure places called The Road Less Traveled, before the magazine ceased publication in 2014.
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Prior to launching this journalism partnership, Stu worked in several occupations: as a planner in local government; as a program manager for a local electric utility; and, as a lobbyist representing local governments to the state government in Sacramento. He met his future wife, Janet at CSU Chico. He earned his BA in Economics there, and subsequently attended graduate school at UC Davis, to study Urban Geography and Planning. He has a long-time interest in promoting responsible development consistent with protecting our environment. Stu finds the opportunity to join other members in developing Washington Commons, with its accessible, central urban location, a rewarding and timely challenge.      

Polly Caple

​Polly has lived in the north Sacramento area for over 40 years. She has been retired from Alta California Regional Center for over 10 years.  She enjoys gardening, helping children learn about vegetable gardening, reading, theater and Americana Music.  As a member of Washington Commons cohousing, she looks forward to again experiencing the neighborliness of her youth in Illinois. 

Fran Bowman

Hi, I’m Fran.

My favorite thing is to be a foster kitten mom, volunteering with our local shelter. Sometimes my own three cats - Dunnigan, Rumsey and Guinda - get curious about what I am doing with all the kids!

I also really enjoy my studio, where I run a home-based “doll hospital” and work on my endless unfinished sewing and quilting projects.

 I am active with our Sacramento Valley Returned Peace Corps group. I served my tours in Jamaica and Benin 42 years apart.

I am looking forward to moving to a new place, to share many fun activities with neighbors and cats!

Chris Cheung

​Chris was born and raised in Maryland, where he currently lives. He is the IT guy for a small company in Virginia. While his lifelong passion has always been “all things tech”, he also prefers to unplug whenever possible, spending time outside walking, hiking, or cycling. While he feels privileged to live and work near the nation's capital, he is looking forward to moving to the capital of The Golden State, where he plans to walk, hike, and cycle as much as possible. He has family in the Bay Area and they will be happy to finally see him on the same coast.

Lisa Walker 

Lisa works as a full time occupational therapist, managing the rehabilitation department in a large psychiatric ward. She has a Masters Degree in Gerontology and in 2001 she began writing her thesis on Seniors Living in Intentional Communities and the Potential for an Increased Quality of Life.  This is when she and her husband, Scott, developed their fascination with cohousing.

She enjoys spending time with like minded and spirited people who want to deepen their connection to others. She spends her free time walking, meditating, and relaxing in nature - especially by natural bodies of water. Recently, Lisa has been discovering more and more about her Native American heritage, and even spending time with her Tribe in Southern Oregon participating in traditional ceremonies like the Pow Wow. 

Scott Walker 

Scott grew up in the Santa Clara Valley, and currently lives in Cloverdale, CA.  As a third generation Northern Californian, he really appreciates finding a co-housing opportunity
so close to home. He is looking forward to surrounding himself with like-minded people.
 
Scott loves outdoor adventure, you may often find him on a camping trip or on a long hike with his wife of 35 years, Lisa.
Kayaking, and tennis are also major interests. If he is not directly participating, Scott  enjoys going to sporting events, and can be found at Forty Niner, Giants, or Warriors games.
 
Career-wise, Scott critiques, evaluates and sells fine wines. His clients are some of the top wine collectors in the country who depend on him to “get the good stuff”.
He has been doing this professionally for 21 years.

Barbara Allen-Brecher

I’m a life-long Californian, born in San Francisco, raised in Los Angeles and Sacramento.  I spent most of my career working as an Administrative Law Judge with the State Personnel Board.  In 2016 I retired and began a new and exciting chapter of my life.  Terry and I purchased a very cool RV van with the goal of travelling around the country with our pup, Teddy, visiting National Parks as well as family and friends. And, that’s just what we did!  If you want to see a little more about our travels, you can check out my blog, barbaraallenbrecher.org.
We live in the grid in Sacramento and love the urban life!  I enjoy long walks around town and eating in the many delicious restaurants in our neighborhood. I am looking forward to the next adventure of co-housing in West Sacramento while still experiencing the joys of urban living.

Terry Allen-Brecher

I had a childhood that included barrel racing in No. Calif., a stint in Australia, and many, many outdoor adventures while living in Papua New Guinea.  I’ve lived much of my adult life in the Sacramento area where I raised two sons and muddled my way down two career paths, first as an RN and then a licensed clinical social worker. Barb and I have shared many adventures in our 30 years together, including downhill skiing, cycling, traveling and, yes, snorkeling. After Barb retired in 2016, we headed out in our small RV and tooled around the US and Canada for 4 months, amazing both family and friends when we returned home with nary a scratch on either ourselves or our RV. ​

Durriyah Khorakiwala

​Durriyah spent her childhood in a neighborly community, in Mumbai, India.  As a 9th grader daydreaming in class, she pondered over the meaning of life and the fascinating things that her classmates, teachers and other adults in her life say and do.  Getting through high school was an insurmountable challenge but discovering psychology as a potential major for college kept her going.

​As a young adult, she came to the USA to pursue graduate studies, while shattering norms and traditions blended with unbridled support from family and friends.  She studied at CSUS, Turlock, CA then got her Phd in Clinical Psychology from UNR, Reno.  Durriyah met her husband in Fremont, CA some 30+ years ago, and they have 2 children.   They currently live and work in the San Francisco bay area.  When she is free, Durriyah enjoys hiking, traveling, reading, edible gardening, cooking and spending time with family and friends.
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Having lived suburban (almost rural) for the past two decades, they are eager to move to urban West Sacramento with restaurants, shops, theaters, and festivals nearby.  The location of Washington Commons with its nearby Riverwalk offers a renewed promise of a neighborly community with the added benefits of cohousing, living in a diverse community and neighborhood,  and yet being able to visit friends in the bay area or going to the mountains with an easy couple hour drive!

Tom Mead

In retirement I have become a number of things; farmer, forester, gourmet chef and Olympic runner. Or at least some version of those activities. In the summer months my wife Lenny and I supervise each other and an 8,000 square foot vegetable garden/orchard in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. We are surrounded by a 60 acre woodlot where I ply my chainsaw skills. My chef skills are limited to the confines of Blue Apron meals, but I do follow directions well.

Running is a passion/addiction of mine acquired in the 1960’s and carried out, on and off (mostly on), ever since.  Of late it affords plenty of time to consume volumes of audio books ranging from biographies to science fiction. Washington Commons will be a great place for these activities, except maybe the chainsaw work, and in warmer winter weather. And despite the fact that these appear to be solitary pursuits, I enjoy sharing the meals and talking about the books.