Board of Directors

Joanna Linkchorst is a lifelong Crescenta Valley resident and a self-proclaimed “history dork”. She is the founder and President of the Friends of Rockhaven. When her children were younger, she gleefully involved herself in their classrooms, historical re-enactment days, served on the PTA board and was president of the elementary school’s foundation. When her kids grew older, she became a volunteer docent at the Autry Museum of the American West. She has used this training to be an enthusiastic tour guide at the Rockhaven property, as well as speaker at various groups and historical societies.

Kate Linkchorst earned three AA degrees from Pasadena City College, a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from California State University Northridge, and her Teaching Credentials from Cal State Los Angeles. She has assisted in nearly every cleaning day, tour and event at Rockhaven since the Friends were formed. She is Joanna’s “right-hand man”. A proud product of the Crescenta Valley schools, she now works as a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District.

Pamela Lawler is a 4th generation Glendalian, and each generation of her family has had strong civic involvement, particularly in education. Pam continued on this family path when she founded a non-profit educational foundation to fund special programs at her local elementary school. She was a founding member of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley in 2003, and has served as their membership chairperson since then. As well, for almost 20 years she has written, edited and produced their monthly newsletter. Pam has lived in the Crescenta Valley for 45 years, has raised a family there, and is deeply committed to the past, present and future of the community.

Mike Lawler is deeply involved in the history of the Crescenta Valley. He was the first president of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, and served in that capacity for 10 years. He still serves on the board of the Historical Society as Program Chair. Mike has authored and co-authored numerous books on the history of the area, and has written a weekly newspaper column on local history for the last 15 years.

When Rockhaven Sanitarium went up for sale in 2008, Mike was instrumental in the City’s purchase of the property. Further, he put his money where his mouth is by leading volunteer cleaning crews to rehabilitate the property from 2008 to the present. During that period he served as the liaison between the City and the community regarding Rockhaven, up until the formation of the Friends of Rockhaven, of which he was a founding member.

Mike Lawler has lived in La Crescenta nearly his entire life, and still lives on the same street he grew up on. Having been married for 45 years and raising four daughters, he has a particular affinity for strong women like those that founded Rockhaven Sanitarium.

Jo Ann Stupakis has been a resident of La Crescenta for 30 years. She has been an active community volunteer, serving as PTA President and Treasurer at La Crescenta Elementary School, Vice President of Hospitality at Crescenta Valley High School, Vice President of Membership at Rosemont Middle School, President of Glendale Community College Parent Education Association and has served as the Treasurer of the Crescenta Valley Town Council since 2015. She joined Friends of Rockhaven as the Treasurer in 2014 and strongly believes in historic preservation.

Jo Ann has worked for Glendale Unified School District since 2006, most recently as the Executive Secretary in Human Resources. She has been married to her husband, Alex, since 1991 and has three children: David, Frances and Gregory and two grandchildren, Ethan and Audra.

Phaedra (Waite) Walton has been on the Friends of Rockhaven board for many years. Pre-pandemic she enjoyed her days as a tour guide and to this day still loves educating people about Rockhaven’s history! Phaedra is an artist and photographer who has created many Rockhaven inspired pieces, including a series of acrylic paintings, plus several holiday cards, invitations and more. Phaedra misses cleaning days and especially working on the grounds and in the gardens of Rockhaven. If Phaedra looks familiar, she grew up locally and was a teacher for most of her life, including 15 years as a substitute teacher for Glendale Unified School District. She continues to have hope for Rockhaven’s future and realizes the importance of the history it represents.

Michael Morgan was born in Pennsylvania in 1955, but moved to Glendale in 1955. He attended St. Francis High School, Class of 1969. He has an AA degree from Glendale Community College, and a BA in history from Cal State LA. 
He has worked at Los Angeles County Natural History Museum-Vertebrate Paleontology, Glendale Public Library, Blue Cross of So. Calif., was the owner of Copies Unlimited, a print shop, and N&M Enterprises.
Michael has lived in Sparr Heights since 1981
He has been a Glendale Historic Preservation Commissioner from 2010 to the present.
Interests: History, Aviation, Genealogy

Vivian Waite is the most senior member of the Rockhaven board. She joined the Board of Directors in 2014 and has been working actively to save Rockhaven ever since.

Vivian moved with her family from Connecticut to Glendale in 1945 and moved to the La Crescenta/La Canada area when she was in 5th grade. She attended Glendale schools. Her children and grandsons also attended Glendale schools. She helped at schools doing volunteer work and until last year was still the Box Top Lady for the local elementary school.

Vivian cares deeply about the future of the valley. She is a member of the Historical Society and considers Rockhaven to be a big part of the history of the valley that should be preserved and treasured by the community.

Laurie McFarlane was born in Glendale. She grew up attending Glendale schools (just like her dad) and eventually became a teacher at Mountain Avenue, the elementary school she attended as a child.

One day, Laurie volunteered to assist with cleaning at Rockhaven and immediately fell in love! Agnes’ vision touched her deeply and motivated her to share the story of Rockhaven with others, and to work to save this lovely and unique piece of women’s history. Laurie joined the Board of Directors in 2016 and is an enthusiastic supporter of our mission.