LESLIE PERSON RYAN
Honored Mother

VISIONARY ENTREPRENEUR. FOOD RESILIENCE HERO.
A FORCE OF NATURE.

Leslie Person Ryan is the person who sees a need or a problem—and she does something about it—she solves it. For 40+ years, Leslie has been known in Montecito and Santa Barbara as the go-to person for custom invitations and personalized stationery, originally starting Letter Perfect to fill the need for a good local stationer. As Chair of the Junior League, Leslie started programs like the Teen Safe Ride program and created the Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team. After the tragic mudslides of 2018 left Summerland in a “food desert,” Leslie started a farm to provide a healthy, local food source. Today, Leslie is the CEO and founder of the Santa Barbara Agriculture & Farm Education Foundation (SBAFEF) whose mission is to provide food security, increase awareness, and educate how food is grown, propagated, and distributed.

VNA Health connected with Leslie when a hospice patient who was a single parent with two boys needed assistance with food security. When asked to help, Leslie said, “No problem!” She began weekly deliveries to the family, and even continued to do so after the parent passed away. The brothers are able to live together and receive a free healthy food delivery every week.

Recently, Leslie was awarded the 2024 Local Food Hero by Santa Barbara Permaculture Network in recognition of her longtime commitment to building food resilience in her community. As this year’s Honored Mother, Leslie says her greatest awards are her children Ottocina (Otto), Talliesin (Tally), and Margaret (Peg).

LADY LESLIE RIDLEY-TREE
Remembered Mother

ART, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE & MUSIC ADVOCATE.
FLAMBOYANT & PASSIONATE PHILANTHROPIST.

Lady Leslie Ridely-Tree shared often, “My mother said, ‘Whatever you have, you must share. The more you have, the more you must share.’” Leslie was a renowned philanthropic leader, trained in music, attended law school, directed a Manhattan community center, implemented the first Head Start program, and established the Bridge Academy. Leslie’s pursuit of giving fueled her as the CEO and chair of Pacific Air Industries, a leading source for airplane parts and components. For Leslie, running a successful business meant that she had more means so that she could give more.

A woman of faith, Leslie believed in a power greater than herself who helped her all through life. When most people plan for retirement at age 60, Leslie became a paralegal. On her first job in Santa Barbara, she met Paul Ridley-Tree, and they were married two weeks later. The rest, as they say, is history. Leslie and Paul quickly became the most generous philanthropists in Santa Barbara. Leslie, and her signature flaming red hair, would find the causes and Paul would get out his checkbook. They were a formidable pair.

Besides Paul, Leslie loved music and her family. She trained in violin and voice, and sang professionally as a torch singer. In her later years, the biggest loves of Leslie’s life were her daughter, Suzette, and her grandchildren, Nahtahna and Xaloc. Suzette is a nurse, and worked in hospice care for VNA Health for 10 years. Suzette’s passion to contribute to making the world a better place and help others “do well” continues her mother’s mission of care.