Chris Ranney, Rotary leader, named Petaluma Citizen of the Year

Chris Ranney is a prolific Petaluma volunteer in a city that is known for philanthropic engagement. The president of the Rotary Club of Petaluma, he spent last year helping build a baseball field for special needs children, riding his bike to raise money to fight polio and housing Petaluma’s homeless population. And that was before wildfires scorched large swaths of Sonoma County in October.

Since the fires, Ranney stepped up to co-chair Rotary’s efforts to raise $1.5 million for fire victims. For his work in the community, Ranney was named the 2018 Petaluma Citizen of the Year.

“I was really stunned but really honored by it,” said Ranney, 64, of the award. “Knowing that there are so many in Petaluma that do so much, it’s quite an honor.”

Ranney, a Petaluma resident since 1991, has been on the board of the Committee on the Shelterless for a decade, working to get people off Petaluma’s streets and into homes. Through the Rotary Club, he has worked on many difference-making projects, including building the Miracle League field at Lucchesi Park last fall. The modified field will give special needs children a place to play this spring.

“So many kids will benefit from it,” he said, highlighting the project as one of the major achievements of the past year. “It’s a true community effort.”

In August, he rode his bike along with other Rotary Club members from Crescent City to Petaluma to raise thousands of dollars for the international organization’s Polio Plus initiative to help eradicate the disease. Through Rotary, he also donated dictionaries to third graders in Petaluma, delivered holiday gifts to underprivileged children and worked with two other Petaluma-area Rotary Club presidents to obtain a grant to plant more than 200 trees around the city this year.

“I work with unbelievable teams,” he said. “We all do this together. A lot of people have this passion.”

Born and raised in San Bruno, Ranney went to Chico State University and started his career in wealth management. With his wife, Shari, and children, Brian and Alicia, they moved to Petaluma to be closer to family in the Bay Area. Ranney said his family was the most important thing in his life.

While looking at houses in Petaluma, Ranney went into Volpi’s Italian restaurant, saw the dive bar in the back, and immediately fell in love.

“I said ‘we’re moving to Petaluma,’” he recalled. “I love Volpi’s.”

Ranney has since changed career paths and started a successful executive leadership consulting business. He has a 2-year-old granddaughter and another on the way. When he is not helping to raise money for various Petaluma causes, Ranney can be found on the ski slopes around Lake Tahoe, where he volunteers on the Ski Patrol at Homewood Ski Resort. He also spends time with his Labrador named Hank.

Joanne Ferris, who nominated Ranney for the Citizen of the Year award, said that he is one reason why Petaluma is a great place to live.

“One of the reasons our town is thriving is citizens like Chris Ranney,” she wrote. “Chris’s commitment to the people of our town is extensive.”

Ranney will be honored at the 2018 Petaluma Community Awards of Excellence, April 5 at Rooster Run Golf Club.

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)