Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Jane Davenport Fairbank
Pioneer for women in physics
A memorial service for Jane Davenport Fairbank, a pioneer for women in physics, editor and resident of Ladera since 1959, will be held on Saturday, June 26, at 10 a.m. in Ladera Community Church, 3300 Alpine Road, Portola Valley.
Mrs. Fairbank died July 1 at Channing House, a retirement residence in Palo Alto. She was born August 21, 1918, in Seattle, Washington.
She was one of the first women to do graduate work in physics at the University of Washington after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Whitman College with a degree in chemistry and physics.
After the outbreak of World War II, she and her husband, William Martin Fairbank, were summoned to join the war effort and develop ship-borne radar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Radiation Laboratory in Cambridge. Mrs. Fairbank was the second woman scientist employed at the laboratory.
Her husband, who became a professor of physics at Stanford University in 1959, made seminal discoveries in low-temperature physics. He is most known for the discovery of quantized flux in superconductors. He died in 1989.
Following the war, Mrs. Fairbank retired from active physics research and devoted her life to her family. "She always maintained that her [three] sons were her greatest accomplishment," said son William Fairbank Jr., professor of physics at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Her third career was as an editor and conference organizer. She co-edited two volumes of "Second Careers for Women" in 1971 and 1975 and "Near Zero, New Frontiers of Physics," which was published in her husband's honor in 1988. Earlier, she edited the two-volume "Radar Maintenance Manual" in 1945.
Known for her keen intellect and inquiring mind, Mrs. Fairbank was a founding member of the Bay Area Consortium on the Educational Needs of Women. She also took an active role in community service, including serving as president of the Stanford University Women's Club and also president of the Woodside PTA. For many years, she served as the official starter for the Fairbank Memorial Run/Walk/Bike event, held annually at Stanford in memory of her husband.
Mrs. Fairbank, who met her future husband as a student at Whitman College, received the college's Gordon Scribner Award for Distinguished Service to Whitman in 1990. She was a founder of the Senior Alumni College at Whitman in 1985 and organized its programs for a decade.
She had a special interest in the study of antiquities. With her husband and friends, she traveled to many sites of ancient civilizations, including Peru, Greece, Egypt, China and Persia, and wrote detailed letters describing her experiences.
Mrs. Fairbank is survived by her three sons, William Fairbank Jr. of Fort Collins, Robert Harold Fairbank of Pacific Palisades, and Richard Dana Fairbank of McLean, Virginia; her brother Harold Edwin Davenport Jr. of Seattle; and 13 grandchildren.
The family suggests sending remembrances to her sons at 1712 Clearview Court, Fort Collins, CO 80521.
Memorial gifts may be made to: the Jane Davenport Fairbank and Harold and Mildred F. Davenport endowment fund for the acquisition and maintenance of science equipment at Whitman College, attention Development Office, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362 or to the William M. and Jane D. Fairbank Fund, No. 353F125, for postdoctoral fellowship support in physics at Stanford University, attention: Memorial Gifts, 326 Galvez St. Stanford, CA 94305-6105.
Stanley Sinclair Buzzell
Longtime Menlo Park resident
Stanley Sinclair Buzzell, a Menlo Park resident for 57 years, died July 11 at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City. He was 82.
Born in Maiden, Massachusetts, in 1920, Mr. Buzzell served in World War II and later worked as a cabinet maker. Even when he was older, he was determined to lead an active life, enjoying daily walks, gardening, stamp collecting; building model railroads, and studying genealogy, family members said.
Mr. Buzzell is survived by his daughters Linda Buzzell, Leslie Keehn and Debbie Sandino; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Memorial services were held Thursday, July 17, at the Menlo Park Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries, followed by a private Burial at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto.
John D. Beatty
Toy representative
John D. Beatty of Menlo Park died July 14 at the age of 76.
Born in Oak Park, Illinois, and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mr. Beatty served in the U.S. Navy and attended Dartmouth College.
In 1959, he moved to California and founded the sales representative company of Sylvester and Beatty. He joined the Little Tikes Toy Co. as a West Coast regional representative in 1983, and retired in 1990.
In his later years, Mr. Beatty enjoyed traveling and playing golf with his wife and friends, family members said.
He is survived by his wife, Marilee; daughters Tracy Todd, Nancy Noble, Jill Morehead and Susan Beatty; a son, John Hites; his brother, Herbert; and eight grandchildren.
Memorial services were held July 18 at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.
David A. Baerncopf
Longtime Menlo Park resident
David A. Baerncopf died July 17 at his residence in Menlo Park. He was 81.
Born in Indianapolis, Mr. Baerncopf earned his Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University. He lived in Menlo Park for many years and was an avid participant in his local bridge club.
He is survived by his wife Gloria; daughter Dayna Lucas; son David Baerncopf Jr.; and five grandchildren.
Private services were held at the Congregation Beth Am. Donations may be made to the Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94023; the Peninsula Humane Society, 12 Airport Blvd, San Mateo, CA 94401, or a charity of choice. Arrangements are under the direction of Roller Hapgood Tinney Funeral Home in Palo Alto.
Nathaniel Hawthorne Brooks Sr.
Educator, civil rights activist
Nathaniel Hawthorne Brooks Sr., educator, civil rights activist and Menlo Park resident, was remembered by family and friends at his funeral service June 23 in St. John Missionary Baptist Church, East Palo Alto.
After battling heart disease for the past five and a half years, Mr. Brooks died of cardiopulmonary arrest June 16 at Stanford Medical Center. He was born in Genoa, Arkansas, 80 years ago.
In 1966, when he was hired as vice principal of the former Ravenswood High School in East Palo Alto, Mr. Brooks became the Sequoia Union High School District's first African-American administrator.
Two years later, he became the first African-American high school principal in San Francisco when he took the top job at Polytechnic High School, where he initiated and directed the school's black studies program.
Mr. Brooks returned to the Sequoia district in 1969, serving as vice principal at Menlo-Atherton High School and later at Woodside High School until his retirement from public schools in 1982.
He kept strong ties with his former students, several of whom spoke at the service of their relationship with Mr. Brooks and his influence on their lives. One of the speakers was Rex Fortune, a student at Ravenswood High, who retired last month as a district superintendent in the Sacramento area.
Mr. Brooks and his wife Juanita lived for 36 years in Menlo Park, where they raised their family and participated in school and community activities. He was board president of the Ravenswood City School District, and a member of Menlo Park's Parks and Recreation Commission, the South San Mateo County NAACP, and the UC Berkeley Black Alumni Association.
Each of his three children graduated from one of the Sequoia district's high schools where their father was a vice principal. Son Nathaniel Hawthorne Brooks Jr., a graduate of the former Ravenswood High School, is a manager of Longs Drugs in the Sacramento area. Renel Brooks-Moon, a Woodside High graduate, is the public address announcer for the San Francisco Giants' home games. She also has a radio program, called "Renel on the Mornings," heard on KISS/FM, 98.1. Dr. Daphne Ann Brooks, a Menlo-Atherton graduate, is professor of English literature at Princeton University.
Mr. Brooks began his career in education as a teacher and head football coach at Yerger High School in Hope, Arkansas. He graduated in 1948 from Arkansas AM&N College in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he played on the football team, sang in the choir and majored in social sciences.
His college education was interrupted by World War II, and he served as a staff sergeant in the Pacific Theater from 1943 to 1946.
He and his bride, teacher Juanita Kathryn Watson, moved in 1950 to Berkeley, where he had begun studying for advanced degrees. He received an additional bachelor's degree, this one in history, in 1951 and a master's degree in education in 1964, both from the UC Berkeley.
Returning to public school classrooms in 1951, Mr. Brooks taught in the Richmond school district at the secondary level. He also organized and directed an evening study hall to help students in the predominantly low-income area with their homework and science projects.
He was awarded a National Science Foundation grant in mathematics to attend a summer program at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.
In 1982, Mr. Brooks became director of MESA (Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement) Program at Stanford University, and he held that post for five years. The program provides academic help for high-achieving African-American and Hispanic students at 150 high schools in California.
Mr. Brooks was a consultant to educational programs and served on committees that worked to create opportunities for people of color. In his later years, he became a member of the Menlo Park Senior Center and Rosener House, and he joined St. John Baptist Church in 1994.
Mr. Brooks is survived by his wife of 53 years, Juanita; son Nathaniel Hawthorne Brooks Jr. of Sacramento; two daughters, Renel Brooks-Moon of San Francisco and Dr. Daphne Ann Brooks of Princeton, New Jersey; sister Lodelle Matthews of Berkeley; five grandchildren; and one great grandchild.
Memorial contributions to the United Negro College Fund and/or the American Heart Association may be sent to the Nat Brooks Memorial Trust, in care of the law office of Michael Aczon, 1250 Addison, Suite 210, Berkeley, CA 94702.
Jones Mortuary in East Palo Alto handled the arrangements.
Jeffrey Lee Fuhrman
Longtime Woodside resident
A memorial service for Jeffrey Lee Fuhrman, a local businessman and 10-year Woodside resident, will be held on Wednesday, July 30, at 1 p.m. at the Woodside Village Church, 3154 Woodside Road. Mr. Fuhrman died in a car accident on Highway 50 near South Lake Tahoe on July 19 after a two-year struggle with lung cancer. He was 43.
A native Californian, he grew up in Redwood City and graduated from Sequoia Union High School. He worked for his family's local business, Jay's Towing Service, and enjoyed snowboarding, boating, biking and traveling around the Bay Area in his spare time.
Mr. Fuhrman is survived by his wife, Kimberly; his daughter, Justine; his son, Jerry; his parents, James and Elizabeth Fuhrman of Redwood City; his brothers, James Jr. and Mike of Redwood City, John of El Dorado, and Jay Thomas of Fremont; and his sisters, Sue Fuhrman-Thompson of Texas, Jessica Fuhrman-Gonzales of Fremont, and Lucille Fuhrman-Guellania of Redwood City.
Donations may be made to a college trust fund for Mr. Fuhrman's children by contacting the Woodside Village Church at 851-1587.
Jos Henkens memorial
A memorial service for Jos Henkens of Menlo Park, a general partner in Advanced Technology Ventures, will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, August 7, at Stanford Memorial Church. A reception will be held immediately following the service at the California Cafe in the Stanford Barn, 700 Welch Road, Palo Alto.
Mr. Henkel died unexpectedly July 8 while on a cycling trip in the south of France.
Services
A funeral service for Evelyn Louise Mogica of Menlo Park will be held at noon Tuesday, July 29, at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, 950 Santa Cruz Ave., with Burial at Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park. Mrs. Mogica died July 24 at age 74.
Ruth Williamson
Portola Valley resident
Ruth Elizabeth Williamson, a master bridge player, died June 11 from complications from Parkinson's disease and a stroke. She was 82.
Born in Bloomsberg, Pennsylvania, Mrs. Williamson attended Columbia University and graduated from the University of New Mexico. She lived in Cleveland, New York City, Albuquerque, Dallas, and Wilmington, Delaware, before retiring to Portola Valley with her husband 27 years ago. The Williamsons vacationed every summer in Estes Park, Colorado, for 54 years.
Mrs. Williamson's interests included family, music, world travel, golf and duplicate bridge. She was twice a golf club champion and earned over 1,500 master points in bridge, taking part in many national tournaments.
Mrs. Williamson is survived by her husband of 55 years, Thurmond, three children and five grandchildren.
Memorial services were held June 16 at Valley Presbyterian Church, Portola Valley. Arrangements were under the direction of the Los Altos Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries.
Jeanne Dickey
Woodside loses a giving, guiding spirit
The flag in front of Woodside's Independence Hall flew at half-mast last week in honor of Jeanne Dickey, a former councilwoman and leading member of the community. Ms. Dickey died unexpectedly at her home July 22 at the age of 77.
A 41-year resident of Woodside, she was a tireless volunteer whose involvement extended from Woodside Elementary School to the Woodside Village Church and included many years of civic service.
During her 12 years on the Town Council, which included two terms as mayor, Ms. Dickey saw the town through landslides and earthquakes, the development of Town Hall and the revision of the general plan. After she stepped down from the council in 1993, she joined the group that would become the Woodside History Committee, and was appointed to the Conservation and Environmental Health Committee; she was active in both until her death.
She continued to regularly attend Town Council meetings, and often offered "history moments" about prominent people or events in Woodside.
"Jeanne's greatest strength was her tireless dedication to carrying Woodside's history forward, threading it throughout our civic projects, capturing it in the words of our general plan and raising public awareness that we are privileged to live in a community like Woodside," said Mayor Sue Boynton.
Ms. Dickey had recently returned from a three-week trip to Scandinavia and was looking forward to an upcoming vacation in Alaska with her family, friends said.
"It was a great shock. People were talking to a cheerful, happy Jeanne as late as [that] morning," said the Rev. Robert Hamerton Kelly, pastor of the Woodside Village Church. She died in her kitchen while fixing her lunch, he said.
Ms. Dickey was member of the church's investment committee, a leading force in the altar guild, and prominent member of the buildings and grounds committee, overseeing the landscaping and championing the use of native plants, he said.
"As she was a mainstay of the town, so she was of the church. We loved her and relied on her," said Rev. Hamerton Kelly.
Claudia Marshall, the chair of Woodside's Architectural and Site Review Board, said she got to know Ms. Dickey through her involvement with the town, and their shared love of Woodside brought them closer over the years.
"I've always been in awe of her, and she's been my inspiration for many years, as a woman of incredible strength and integrity," said Ms. Marshall.
Most recently, Ms. Marshall served with Ms. Dickey on the steering committee for the Woodside Community Museum, working to restore the historic Mathisen house, and open it up as a local history museum.
"She championed the project from the very beginning," said Robert Flint, who chairs the steering committee.
Ms. Dickey was influential in convincing the Town Council to endorse the Mathisen house project and in getting contributions from friends, he said. The museum's grand opening is scheduled for the Woodside Environment Fest in October.
Born in Oakland October 20, 1925, she was proud to be a fourth-generation Californian. She was raised in Piedmont and attended Stanford University, graduating in 1947. She earned a master's degree in social welfare from UC Berkeley in 1949, and marriage her college sweetheart, Frank Dickey, in 1951. They moved to Woodside in 1962, where they raised their three children.
Prior to her service on the Town Council, Ms. Dickey spent eight years on the Woodside Trails Committee, four years as a member of the Architectural and Site Review Board, and four years on the Master Plan and General Plan Committee.
While on the council, she and councilwoman Barbara Seitle were the targets of a failed recall attempt in 1992 -- the recall fizzled when organizers couldn't get enough signatures to put it on the ballot.
Joan Stiff, who served on the council with Ms. Dickey, called her the "solid citizen of Woodside."
"You could always count on her -- whenever you needed to do something, whenever there was a crisis, whenever you needed a level head, Jeanne was there," Ms. Stiff said. "She was a hard worker and she always managed to keep her sense of humor. She was steadfast."
Ms. Dickey belonged to the board of directors of the Jr. League Palo Alto, United Way, the Ravenswood Childcare Center in East Palo Alto, Golden Gate Kindergarten in San Francisco and the Woodside Community Foundation. She was a past president of the Woodside Elementary School PTA, a founder of the Valley Auxiliary of Family Services Agency, vice president of the San Mateo County chapter of the Society of California Pioneers, a member of the Woodside-Atherton Garden Club and an early supporter of the Woodside School Foundation.
She is survived by her children, Matthew Dickey of Glen Ellen, and Anne Schoebel and Mark Dickey, both of Woodside; and seven grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank, in 1992.
A memorial service was held at the Woodside Village Church, co-celebrated by Rev. Hamerton Kelly and Father Scott Hayashi of Christ Church in Portola Valley, where Ms. Dickey was also a member.
In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorial donations be made to the Woodside Community Museum, c/o the Woodside Community Foundation, P.O. Box 620494, Woodside, CA 94062.
Carl Holvick
Pioneer builder of Silicon Valley
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, August 6, at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church for Carl Holvick of Atherton, whose company, Carl Holvick Construction Co., built many of the industrial and commercial buildings on the Peninsula during the 1960s and 1970s. Mr. Holvick, who died July 28, was 89.
Over five decades Mr. Holvick built more than 2,500 industrial buildings in the Bay Area, family members said. "My father had an unquenchable passion for artistic architectural design and construction," says his daughter Christine Holvick. " He continued designing buildings up until the day before his death."
During the 1970s. Mr. Holvick built manufacturing offices in the Bohannon Industrial Park in Menlo Park. Mr. Holvick and his wife, Patricia, operated Carol Holvick Construction Co. in Palo Alto until they sold it after many years.
Mr. Holvick was born in Brainerd, Minnesota, and graduated from the University of Minnesota with degrees in structural engineering and architecture.
He served in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant commander at the Kaneohe Naval Airbase in Hawaii. After World War II, he marriage Patricia, and the couple moved to the Bay Area in 1947. They moved to Atherton in 1959.
Mr. Holvick was a past president of the San Carlos Rotary Club and belonged to Palo Alto Rotary Club. He was a member of Menlo Country Club, Los Altos Golf and Country Club, Spyglass Golf and Country Club, the Royal Kaanapali Golf Course, and the Lahaina Yacht Club.
Mr. Holvick was an avid golfer, skier, and piloted a single-engine Navion airplane. For many years, he rode as a deputy sheriff with the San Mateo County Mounted Patrol.
He was a former elder and trustee of the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, where he and his wife established fellowships for graduating theological students from six seminaries.
Mr. Holvick is survived by his wife of 57 years, Patricia; daughters Valerie Holvick of Atherton, Christine Holvick of Santa Barbara, and Debra Holvick of Atherton; and six grandchildren.
The family prefers memorials for Alzheimer's disease research to the John Douglas French Alzheimer's Foundation, 11620 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 270, Los Angeles, 90025.
Evelyn Mogica
Retired optician
Evelyn Louise Mogica of Menlo Park died of cancer July 24 at age 74.
Mrs. Mogica was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and lived in Vallejo for nearly 50 years before moving to Menlo Park four years ago.
Mrs. Mogica was a retired optician and a member of Beta Sigma Phi sorority. She enjoyed playing with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, painting, discussing politics, and gardening, and had a passion for the color pink, say family members.
Mrs. Mogica was marriage to the late Raymond Mogica for 38 years. She is survived by daughters Linda Knott of Lodi, Cheryl Nelson of Menlo Park, Christine Wilson of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Cathy Petersen of Menlo Park; a son, Doug Mogica of Palo Alto; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Services were held July 29 at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the Menlo Park Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries.
