About Us
Rose Marquez
President
Rose Marquez is proud to be a San Francisco native. She resides in Daly City and is also a member of the SF Dahlia Society. She volunteers with upkeep and maintenance at the Stanford's Arizona Cactus Garden. She loves roses and all kinds of different flowers. Rose never misses an opportunity at attempting to propagate roses, hydrangeas and geraniums. She enjoys walking and treasure hunting at flea markets and possesses a no-nonsense personality.
Yvonne Liu
Vice President
Yvonne Liu has been a San Mateo County resident for the past 40 years. When Yvonne is not in her garden tending to her plants, she is either teaching piano students in her studio, or walking Orpheus the Bernedoodle. Yvonne is also a student of the Ikenobo school of Ikebana.
https://www.instagram.com/yvonne_y_liu/
Jerry Georgette
Newsletter Editor
Jerry Georgette is our Newsletter Editor. He is a Consulting Rosarian through the American Rose Society and is available for virtual and in-person consultations. His passions include gardening, photography and travel. He has won numerous rose exhibit and photography awards at the local, district and national levels. Jerry oversees the management of the Memorial Rose Garden at the San Mateo Garden Center and is also on its Board of Directors. For further information, contact him at jerrygeorgette@yahoo.com.
Stu Dalton
Board Member
Stu Dalton is a Peninsula Rose Society Past President, A UCCE Master Gardener in San Mateo and San Francisco Counties, and an American Rose Society Master Rosarian. He grows over 250 roses in his Menlo Park Garden and has given talks on roses throughout the Bay Area
Margaret Warren
Secretary
A native San Franciscan, Margaret has been a resident of San Mateo County for over 50 years and San Carlos since 2005. She is a UCCE Master Gardener for San Mateo and San Francisco Counties, with a love of roses, particularly old garden roses, and their companion plants (clematis, pelargoniums, geraniums, lavender, and other herbs) as well as salvias, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and Japanese maples. She has been an active member of the San Mateo County Rose Society since 2010, and is a member of the American Rose Society, the Heritage Rose Foundation, and the Friends of Vintage Roses in Sebastopol. When not involved in garden-related activities, she serves as a Board Member and Treasurer of the UCSF Retirees Association, and in the past was actively involved in search and rescue and disaster planning.
Ken Iisaka
Treasurer
A native of Japan, Ken Iisaka grew up in Canada but settled down in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1998. He has held a variety of engineering positions at various financial institutions, and now works as an Artificial Intelligence engineer at Indeed. He also sits on the board of the Bear Valley Music Festival and is active as a pianist internationally. He held a FINRA series 7 license while working at a member brokerage firm and has previously pursued a Certified Financial Analyst certification. He resides in Foster City with his long-term partner, Yvonne Liu, surrounded by over 100 rose plants, as well as 4 pianos in the house.
Barbara Margolis
Board Member
Neal Rosen
Memorial Rose Garden Project Lead
Neal Rosen has had a relationship with roses his entire life, beginning at birth. His mother’s name was Rose. He grew up in the Portland, Oregon, area, otherwise known as the Rose City, and tended roses in his parents’ back yard. He also covered the Portland Rose Festival parade as a newspaper reporter. He has been a resident of San Mateo for 25 years and has been involved with the Rose Society for several years, which has provided him the opportunity to become more knowledgeable about the care and feeding of this beautiful flower.
Lana Tran
Membership Chair
Lana Tran has been a Bay Area resident for 25 years. She enjoys attending events of the SMRS, and has volunteered at the annual San Jose memorial garden rose pruning and with the Friends of Vintage Roses.
Lisa Stephenson
Board Member at Large
Lisa Stephenson has been living and gardening on The Peninsula for 25 years and her desire to garden started in a community garden plot with her kids. It has evolved over the years to include many roses, fruits, vegetables and when not gardening Lisa is helping her husband in his wine vineyard. Lisa has volunteered on a few committees in the past 7 years with her association with San Mateo County Rose Society and she really enjoys the community rose garden where our "group" gathers to weed, fertilize, trim, deadhead and discuss things all things rose related!