Barbara Cass, a longtime Ladera resident, died of pancreatic cancer at home July 8 with her family at her side. Born in San Francisco August 28, 1938, she graduated from Lowell High School at age 16 and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1959 where she was as a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She married Tom Cass and lived in Washington, D.C. while he was in the Navy, returned to Berkeley, and then lived in Paris, France, while he completed his postdoctoral studies.

Barbara had an amazing career. She started at the Career Action Center for Women and then went on to assist in the formation of Software Entrepreneur’s Forum (SEF). This new community of software engineers and entrepreneurs exchanged ideas during monthly dinners, and was the precursor of what has become the essence of Silicon Valley today, with numerous opportunities for networking and connecting. Barbara became executive director in 1984 and started inviting future stars to speak, such as Philippe Kahn and Esther Dyson. People still talk about the SEF meeting where Bill Gates spoke at the Elks Lodge to an audience of 640 strong. She was selected to the ‘Micro Times 100’ several times in the 1990s.

In 1998, one of her proudest moments in her career, she had said, was the successful fusion of two organizations, the City of San Jose’s Center of Software Development and SEF, which became SDForum. That same year, she helped create the prestigious Visionary Awards. This annual event is now recognized as the best such event in the Valley, where 300 leaders and influencers of technology meet to celebrate the successes of luminaries in the field.

From its early days of developer community groups, SDForum grew from a handful of developers passionate about software to the oldest and largest association of professionals in emerging technologies in the Valley, with over 2,000 members and 45 organizational sponsors. Some of the 17 community groups have met since the start, and others have gone the way of the technologies they explored such as Hypercard. With her exceptional people skills and understanding of the business of technology, Barbara nurtured these groups and was often the barometer for future tech trends as she helped new groups form.

In a recent interview, Barbara said “It has been fun watching so many entrepreneurs start out to build a company, become successful, sell or leave the company, only to start another successful enterprise and then another.” The roster of entrepreneurs and companies helped along their way by SDForum tells the story of technology in the Valley. Bill Joy and Donna Dubinsky are just a few entrepreneurs that come to mind and companies include HotMail or the more recent Sugar CRM.

Twenty five years ago, Ann Winblad joined SEF when she moved to the bay area from Minnesota and later become an anchor for SDForum as the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors. Ann recalled Barbara fondly, “I still remember standing in line outside the Elks Club where SEF held their meetings and although I had not met Barbara before, she welcomed me as if I were her best friend. She encouraged many of us and stood by many in good times and bad and truly understood that every individual might be the next captain of industry. Barbara represented the soul of Silicon Valley and her memory will be here forever.” As a result of her illness, Barbara retired from SDForum last December. Ms. Cass is survived by her husband of 49 years, Tom Cass; mother, Norma Stendell of San Jose; son, Peter Cass of Menlo Park; and daughter, Carin Zimmerman of San Francisco; and three granddaughters.

According to her wishes, no services were held. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Oncology Department, attention Philanthropy, 795 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94301.