A native San Diegan with a degree in landscape architecture from UC Berkeley, Minshall was hired in 1947 to fill what was then a new position with San Diego city schools.

“She was the first female landscape architect in town and for many years was the only landscape architect for the city’s schools,” said Susi Torre-Bueno, SDHS president. “She was responsible for the look of the schools and gets credit for bringing in new plants, including many that were low water and are very popular today.”

In 1954, Minshall joined the American Society of Landscape Architects Southern California chapter, based in Los Angeles, and in the mid-1970s, helped form San Diego’s chapter. “Over the years, she has mentored and influenced many other landscape architects who have worked here and are working here today,” Torre-Bueno added.

A resident of Lakeside since 1959, Minshall lost her home and garden filled with native plants, South African proteas and flowering trees in the 2003 Cedar fire. “It was exciting in the months that followed,” Minshall writes in the latest SDHS newsletter, “to observe Mother Nature’s healing process, as many trees and shrubs stump sprouted. My land is once again green.”

She expects to move into a new home this year.