Meet the Leftwich-Traikoff Family: Sharing Passions as a Family

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COVER PHOTO: by Kim Lind Photography

Story by Alexandra Sullivan, Resident since 2017

“There’s no place like home”

This undoubtedly famous quote is from a young girl, wanting to return to her family’s farm after a whirlwind adventure. It is also a common catchphrase for those describing how it feels to be back in their own residence, back in the safety and comfort of their own home.

For more than a combined 72 years, Mark Traikoff and his wife Laurel Leftwich Traikoff, have helped people across the greater Bay Area, from San Jose to right here in Danville, get the keys to their houses; the same houses that, with love and care, will soon turn into their dream homes.

After attending Catholic school in San Jose and college in Saratoga, Mark began building homes in 1974, and five years later he began the start of a successful real estate career in Los Gatos. In 1982, Mark moved to Danville where he started with home development in Blackhawk and Walnut Creek. From there he was one of the owners of Better Homes Realty until 1995. Mark currently works at J. Rockcliff Realtors right in the heart of Danville.

Laurel’s family has been in California for five generations. She was raised in Walnut Creek, attending Pleasant Hill and Ygnacio Valley High School. While still in high school, Laurel began her career in real estate by working a weekend job as a receptionist for Executive Brokers in Walnut Creek. As she grew with her own career, she became the administrative assistant and transaction coordinator for Better Homes Realty in San Ramon. In 1992 Laurel transitioned into the escrow side of real estate, and began working as an escrow assistant. She is now a Senior Escrow Officer for Old Republic Title located in the Livery in lower downtown Danville. Since her employment in 2011 at Old Republic Title, she has qualified each year for their prestigious 5 star award given to the company’s top escrow officers.

The Traikoffs have been married for 25 years! They met thanks to their shared passion of real estate and Bay Area sports. A co-ed softball league in 1989 is where that spark was first lit, and they committed to each other forever in 1994. Nine years later they welcomed their son, Parker. When Parker was in the first grade, the family was joined by their sweet little dog, McCovey. “He loves doing whatever the humans are doing!” says Laurel. Parker’s other pets include snakes, reptiles, fish, and mice.

Parker is a St. Isidore School graduate and is currently a sophomore in high school. He can be described as a true outdoorsman.

Some of his hobbies include cooking, hunting, fishing, and gardening. One of his favorite things to do is help out on the family’s friends’ 80 acre vineyard in Lodi. How many of us can say we spent our teen years learning how to tend Cabernet vines? It’s a good thing Parker’s parents love wine tasting and fine dining.

One of the special things about the Traikoffs is the sincere father and son bond shared between Mark and Parker. While in Maui during their annual trip, both Mark and Parker received their scuba certifications. They immediately put those skills to work this June with a trip to Loreto Bay, Mexico for a scuba-centered holiday. Their other outdoor activities include hunting in Colorado, and fishing everywhere they go. A no less exhilarating, but far less risky, shared pastime of the two is coin collecting. Mark says, “Parker loves the Morgan silver dollars and has several rare Hawaiian coins minted in 1883 for the King at the San Francisco mint.” They focus primarily on American coins, dating as far back as 1826.

The family’s other passion is giving back. Mark is a fourth degree knight with the Knights of Columbus. Some of their most memorable acts of kindness are, “we do 500 annual Christmas boxes of one week worth of food, including a turkey. And Christmas presents for needy families, plus a fundraising crab feed every year.” Parker has been active in supporting the charity fundraising since he was in the first grade. “The other knights have gotten to expect good things from Parker,” says Mark.

One of the other organizations in our area, Danville’s Discovery Counsel, has been another combined effort from everyone in the family. Mark has been on the board of the Discovery Counsel’s golf tournament every year since it began; 20 years! “Parker goes around to all the Danville businesses asking for raffle prize donations and our town has been very generous.” Some of Laurel’s favorite downtown shops include Christina’s and Flaunt. And of course, living within walking distance of downtown makes getting out there even easier.

“We moved to Old Town Lane in Downtown Danville in 2003. Prior to that we lived in a townhouse two streets away... We have an awesome neighborhood,” says Laurel. In fact, there is no louder action than asking someone to be in your child’s life forever, and that is exactly the relationship that has been formed by the Traikoffs and their neighbors; last May, Parker became Godfather to one of their neighbors, sweet Brigette! Her parents say, “Parker is a very confident person that knows who he is and isn’t afraid if it’s ‘normal’.” They want him to help Brigette achieve that same confidence and be her spiritual leader.

For Mark, Laurel, and Parker, enjoying their interests together is what life is all about. They’ve worked hard in their careers to assist other people in finding and creating a living space where the family can gather and neighbors can become closer than ever.