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EVERYDAY ENCOUNTERS

A Tiburon resident is happy to be back after five decades

Portner grew up partly in Venezuela, speaking Spanish, before her family moved to Tiburon when she was 13. She says Venezuelan culture remains a core part of her identity.

TYLER CALLISTER / FOR THE ARKKim Portner stands along the Tiburon waterfront June 2, six months after returning to town following nearly 50 years away. Portner moved to Tiburon with her family at 13 and lived in El Paso, New York, Seattle and the Florida Keys before coming back.
Tyler Callister
By TYLER CALLISTER · 1 min read

Kim Portner lived away from Tiburon for nearly 50 years. Six months ago, she moved back.

“I’ve always thought about it,” she says. “This was just in my heart.”

Portner, 64, takes in the view of San Francisco Bay from a bench at Shoreline Park June 2. She says it takes her back to her early teenage years. Portner moved to Tiburon with her family when she was 13, attending Del Mar Middle School and Redwood High School for two years before her family relocated to Los Angeles. But her years in Tiburon stuck with her, she says.

“I have super beautiful memories of my time here,” she says. “And it was so idyllic. I loved going to the library. I loved riding my bike. I loved going to Paradise Beach and taking the ferry to Angel Island.”

In the early 1970s, things were different, she says, pointing toward the Tiburon ferry landing.

“I had the best memories of watching the ferries go in and out,” she says. “Back then you could literally dangle your feet over the dock and just watch them come in and out.”

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A version of this story appeared in the June 10, 2026, print edition of The Ark. See something wrong? Request a correction.
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