Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Merle Bennett
Former Menlo resident
Merle E. Bennett, who lived in Menlo Park for 30 years, died March 4 in Modesto. He was 74.
Mr. Bennett retired from Keystone Steel and Wire Co. in Santa Clara, where he was employed for 30 years.
He is survived by his children, Michael Bennett of Redding, Maureen Turfrey of Salida, and Matthew Bennett of Palo Alto; and sisters LaVelle Bailey, Connie Spencer and June Cook, all of Oregon.
A funeral Mass was held March 8 at Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park. Memorials may be made to the English Oaks Convalescent Home, 2233 W. Rumble Road, Modesto, CA 95350; or The Church of the Nativity, 210 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Arrangements were under the direction of O'Connor's Menlo Colonial Chapel.
Robert W. Bullock
Woodside resident
A memorial service for Robert W. Bullock will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at Peninsula Christian Center, 1305 Middlefield Road in Redwood City. Mr. Bullock died February 22. He was 83.
Mr. Bullock was born in Warm Springs, Georgia, and lived in Woodside since 1962.
During World War II, he was a lieutenant and flight instructor in the Army Air Corps. He was in the real estate business on the Peninsula before his retirement.
Mr. Bullock was active in the Peninsula Rose Society, Christian Life Advance, Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship, and the American Independent Party.
He is survived by Eleanor, his wife of 49 years, and by his cousins, Hal Crabtree, Dorothy Cestarich, Verna Buck and Robert Herbster.
The family prefers donations to the Mission Hospice of San Mateo County, 151 West 20th Ave., San Mateo 94403; the Peninsula Christian Center; or the Salvation Army of Redwood City.
Arrangements were by Redwood Chapel in Redwood City.
Cathryn H. Coleman
Artist, weaver
Cathryn H. Coleman, who used her creative energies for her own home renovations as well as for helping to develop new techniques in weaving, died March 4 in her Atherton home after battling lung cancer. She was 77.
Mrs. Coleman was born in Portland, and attended Oregon State College after high school. There she met her husband, Robert Griffin Coleman, whom she marriage after he returned from service during World War II. She graduated from Oregon State University as an art major, with a minor in home economics.
"Cathryn was part of a large group of under-appreciated women who were experts in home management," according to her husband. She was the contractor in the rebuilding of the family home, and she enlivened the dÈcor with her own pottery and mosaic tableaux, he said.
A weaver from the time she was a teenager, Mrs. Coleman joined the Los Trampornas Weavers Guild in Palo Alto in 1965, serving as the president and secretary-treasurer. She took an active role in providing leadership toward developing new techniques in weaving, and participated in many state and national weaver conferences, Mr. Coleman said.
Mrs. Coleman accompanied her geologist husband on overseas assignments, and her travels and fiber art collecting in China-Mongolia-Siberia strongly influenced the patterns that she developed in her weaving. While her husband was helping to establish a geology department at the Sultan Qaboos University in Oman in the late 1980s and early '90s, Mrs. Coleman was active with a group at the university developing a weaving program for the students.
Mrs. Coleman is survived by her husband, Robert; three sons, Robert Griffin Jr., Derrick Job, and Mark Dana; six grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. She also is survived by her brothers, Jerald Hirschberger and Donald Hirschberger.
A private scattering of ashes at sea by the Neptune Society will be held later.
Caryl Youngberg
Singer and pianist
Caryl D. Youngberg, a Menlo Park resident for 36 years, died March 7 at Kindred Hospital in San Leandro of complications from open heart surgery. She was 80.
A native of Chicago, Ms. Youngberg worked as a secretary for several electronic firms in Silicon Valley for more than 30 years. She retired from Litton Industries in 1988.
Ms. Youngberg sang with the Bay Area Showcase Chorus of Sweet Adelines and the El Camino Real chapter of Sweet Adelines for 20 years. She was also an accomplished pianist and played at nursing homes in South San Mateo County.
She traveled extensively with Elderhostel, and enjoyed opera, symphony, ballet and the theater, according to her longtime companion Jeanne Gary.
In addition to Ms. Gary, she is survived by nieces, cousins and many friends. Her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the Monterey coast.
A celebration of Ms. Youngberg's life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at Little House in Menlo Park.
Donations may be made to Pets in Need, 873 First Ave., Redwood City, 94063; Habitat for Humanity, 1010 Doyle St., Menlo Park, 94025; or Young Singers Foundation of Sweet Adelines, 5334 E. 46th St., Tulsa, OK 74135.
William Darley
Retired school teacher
William Maughan Darley died March 15 at his Menlo Park home of an apparent heart attack. He was 84.
Mr. Darley was born in Wellsville, Cache County, Utah, where he was raised on a dairy farm. He graduated from Utah State University in 1939 and taught high school in Cache Valley, before volunteering for service with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
He received a master's degree from Utah State in 1947, and was accepted for doctoral work in secondary education studies at Stanford University in 1957. He later became an English teacher in the San Carlos Unified School System, where he taught until retiring in 1981.
A lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mr. Darley spent 12 years working in the church's genealogy system translating 16th century German genealogical records.
Mr. Darley is survived by his wife of 59 years, Theda; son William; and four grandchildren.
Arrangements were under the direction of Roller Hapgood & Tinney, Palo Alto.
Angelo F. Atilano
World War II veteran
A funeral Mass for Angelo F. Atilano, World War II veteran, cook, and longtime custodian at the county courthouse, is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 27, at St. Raymond's Catholic Church, 1100 Santa Cruz Ave. in Menlo Park. Interment will follow at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto. Mr. Atilano died March 22.
Gilman Gray
Retired executive
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 26, at Ladera Community Church, 2200 Alpine Road, for Gilman Allen Gray Sr. of Menlo Park, who died January 9 at Stanford Medical Center. He was 74.
Mr. Gray was born in Dallas, Texas, and graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
A sales engineer, he worked for Vinson Supply Co. in Odessa, Texas, from 1965 to 1974. He acquired Associated Process Controls, an engineering firm in Foster City in 1974, and served as its president. Mr. Gray retired in 1986.
After the Gray family moved to Sharon Heights in 1975, they joined Ladera Community Church, where Mr. Gray was one of the instigators of the church's community outreach program. He had real compassion for those in need and was always looking to help others, say family members.
Mr. Gray was an inveterate reader and sports enthusiast, holding season tickets to the Stanford University and 49er football games. He enjoyed playing golf and was a former member of Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club.
Mr. Gray is survived by his wife of 48 years, Elizabeth Ann Gray; sons Ned Walker Gray of Dallas, Brook Allen Gray of Napa, Gilman Allen Gray Jr. of Palo Alto, Timothy Nash Gray of Eugene, Oregon, and Daniel Davis Gray of Portland, Oregon; brother Foster Lee Gray of Austin, Texas; sister Lady Jane Rushing of Dallas; and three grandchildren.
The family prefers donations to the Ladera Community Church Endowment Fund, Community Outreach, in memory of Gilman A. Gray, or to a favorite charity. Arrangements are under the direction of Crosby-Gray & Company, Burlingame.
Neal Windsor Nash
Local grocer
Neal Windsor Nash, a grocer in Portola Valley and Woodside for many years, died January 8 in Auburn, Calif. He was 78.
Mr. Nash was born in Holt, Missouri, , and grew up in Columbia, Missouri.
He served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force before moving to San Francisco in 1945. There, he worked for Safeway and eventually owned several grocery stores.
In 1959, he was awarded the "Young Man of the Year" award from the San Francisco Junior Chamber of Commerce for his work with youth in the Hunters Point area. He was instrumental in sponsoring Kids in Performance, a program to benefit children in the performing arts.
In 1961, Mr. Nash moved to Portola Valley, where he owned Village Square Market for 13 years before going to work at Roberts market in Woodside. He retired from that store in 1998, and moved to Auburn in 2000.
Mr. Nash also loved to garden, and often sold flowers at a roadside stand where buyers could just "put the money in the bucket," said his family.
Mr. Nash was a member of the Lions Club of Woodside/Portola Valley for 15 years, and was especially active in the Lions Club Eye Foundation. He was also a member of the Portola Valley PTA.
Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Ella Mae Nash; two sons, Steve of Modesto and Mark of Auburn; three daughters-in-law, Rene of Modesto, Joyce of Auburn, and Jean of Portola Valley; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a brother, Martin of Borger, Texas; and a sister, Eska of Columbia, Missouri.
Mr. Nash was preceded in death by his eldest son, Greg of Portola Valley, as well as two brothers, Gil of Columbia, Missouri, and Howard of San Diego.
A private family service was held in Auburn.
Memorial donations may be sent to the Lions Club Eye Foundation, c/o Northern California Lions Sight Association, 2750 24th St., Sacramento, 95818.
Richard Brady
Longtime Menlo Park resident
Friends and family gathered at Harry's Hoffbrau in Redwood City in memory of Richard "Dick" Brady, longtime Menlo Park resident, who died January 4 in Shingle Springs. He was 74.
Mr. Brady was born in Los Angeles, but spent his summers in Menlo Park and Atherton with his father. Together, they built the first house on Monterey Avenue in Menlo Park, family members said.
Mr. Brady served in the U.S. Army as a military policeman following World War II. He returned to Los Angeles to become one of the early scuba divers, known as the "kelp worms." He also worked as a carpenter in a Los Angeles hospital where he met his future wife, Helen, a student nurse.
The family moved to Menlo Park in the early 1950s. Mr. Brady was Cub scoutmaster for Troop 64 and a Boy Scout leader for Troop 214 when his sons, Mike and Pat, attended Las Lomitas District schools. While living in Menlo Park, Mr. Brady was active in the "Save the Hill Campaign" and the "No on Annexation to Menlo Park" campaign in the 1970s.
Mr. Brady worked as a superintendent for Wagner & Martinez Construction Co., which built and remodeled many buildings at Stanford University. He owned Brady's Tractor Service and later became a commercial crab and salmon fisherman at Princeton-by-the-Sea.
He moved from Menlo Park to Princeton three years ago, living in Shingle Springs during his last illness.
Mr. Brady is survived by four children, Mike, Pat, Kathleen and Charleen; and five grandchildren. His wife, Helen, died in 1989.
William Edward Vert
Food distributor and marketeer
William Edward Vert, a resident of Atherton and Menlo Park for over 30 years, died December 23 at the Washington Square Retirement Community in Hinsdale, Illinois. He was 93.
Mr. Vert was a native of Lodi and graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton.
During World War II, he directed food supplies to the fleet operating out of Norfolk, Virginia. He spent his entire career in the food industry until he retired from the marketing staff at Del Monte. Before joining Del Monte he managed his own food brokerage in Minneapolis. He was also associated with Oberti Olives, Tri Valley Growers and California Growers.
Mr. Vert was preceded in death by his wife Elizabeth. He is survived by two daughters, Nancy and Linda Vert of Clarendon Hills, Illinois, and two grandchildren.
Funeral services were held in Hinsdale.
Martha B. Thurston-McCabe
Former Portola Valley resident
Former Portola Valley resident Martha B. Thurston-McCabe died December 29 in Cupertino at the age of 84.
Ms. Thurston-McCabe is survived by her husband, Donald T. McCabe; her children, Barbara Thurston Lanser, Fred Thurston, Jannai Thurston-Pero and Christopher McCabe; and six grandchildren.
Services were held January 3 at St Simons Catholic Church. Simons Catholic Church in Los Altos.
The family requests that memorial contributions be made to the MidPeninsula Pathways Hospice Foundation, 201 San Antonio Circle, Suite 104, Mountain View, CA 94040.
Teresa Monohan
Menlo Park resident
Services will be held at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, January 23, at St. Denis Church, 2250 Avy Ave. in Menlo Park, for Teresa Monohan, who died January 18 of pneumonia. She was 53.
Ms. Monohan was born in Los Angeles and was a resident of Menlo Park since 1981. She was a welcoming host of foreign students and friends from other cultures. She enjoyed dancing, swimming, music, travel, pets and hiking, family members said.
She is survived by her husband Dennis N. Monohan of Menlo Park and her mother Frances D. Matson-Plourde; brother, Stephen R. Matson; and children James, Andrew and Bridget Monohan.
Memorials may be made to the Betty Wright Swim Center, 525 E. Charleston Rd., Palo Alto, 94306
Cecily Ann Bostock
Exhibit designer, Stanford graduate
Cecily Ann Bostock, whose family has resided in Atherton since 1983, died at her parents' home on January 15. She was 25.
Ms. Bostock was born in Swindon, England. She attended Phillips Brooks School, Castilleja, Crystal Springs Uplands School and Smith College, and graduated from Stanford University in 1999. She completed a double major in product design and urban studies, and was captain of the women's varsity crew team at Stanford.
Since graduation, she worked as a project manager at Weddingchannel.com and subsequently as an exhibit designer at West Office Exhibit Design in Oakland. She was an accomplished artist, writer and pianist.
Services were held January 19 at Holy Trinity Church in Menlo Park.
Ms. Bostock is survived by her parents, Peter and Sara Bostock, and her brother Michael and sister Gillian.
The family requests that memorial contributions be made to Stanford Athletics Development Office, Women's Crew Program, Arrillaga Family Sports Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, or Crystal Springs Uplands School, Studio Art Department, 400 Uplands Drive, Hillsborough, CA 94010.
Henry Cebula
Retired building contractor
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, January 30, at St. Matthias Church, 1685 Cordilleras Road, Redwood City, for Henry Cebula of Woodside, who died at home January 23. He was 86.
A visitation for friends will be held Tuesday, January 29, from 3 to 9 p.m., with a vigil service at 7 p.m. at Redwood Chapel, 847 Woodside Road, Redwood City.
Mr. Cebula was a retired building contractor. A member of the Woodside Lions Club, he was honored for his volunteer work for the Sequoia Hospital Foundation in Redwood City and for the town of Woodside, his home for 44 years.
Mr. Cebula is survived by his wife of 53 years, Evelyn; daughters Susan Garnsey, Janet Cebula, Carol Cebula, Victoria Cebula Brignetti and Wanda Cebula; sons Henry and Edward Cebula; sister Stella Sullivan; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Keith D. McCarthy
Insurance company founder
Keith D. McCarthy, a Woodside resident for 43 years, died January 7 at Sequoia Hospital. He was 87.
Born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, Mr. McCarthy graduated from St. Louis Park High School and attended the University of Minnesota. One of his first jobs was at Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company in Minneapolis. He opened restaurants in Minneapolis and Salt Lake City, and founded McCarthy Company Insurance in the Bay Area in the early 1950s after moving to Woodside with his wife Virginia.
However, family members said his greatest love was flying. During World War II, he was a pilot for Northwest Airlines and flew ice research missions for Honeywell. Mr. McCarthy was an active member of the Northwest Airlines retired pilots association and was proud to be an early member of the Quiet Birdmen, a pilots association Charles Lindbergh once belonged to.
His other interests included traveling, music and sailing. He sailed the San Francisco Bay as often as possible on the boat he docked at Pier 39, family members said. He was also member of the Stanford Golf Club.
Following the death of Virginia, his wife of 38 years, in 1981, Mr. McCarthy marriage Jean Smith. Mr. McCarthy is survived by his daughter Patricia Brady and her husband James of Portola Valley; his brother Meredith McCarthy of Morningside, Minnesota; and two grandsons.
Mr. McCarthy's ashes will be interred at Alta Mesa Cemetery in Palo Alto, and a memorial service will be scheduled at a later date, said his family.
