Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Ruth Fleming
Former Menlo Park resident
Graveside services were to be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, January 6, at Alta Mesa Memorial Park, Palo Alto, for Ruth Drane Fleming who died December 28 at Channing House in Palo Alto. She was 90.
Ms. Fleming grew up in Tucson, Arizona. She was a graduate of the University of Arizona, and earned a master's degree from Stanford University. For many years, she worked for Westinghouse Corp. She was a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto.
Ms. Fleming was preceded in death by her husband, Major Gen. Robert J. Fleming Jr. She is survived by two stepdaughters, Patricia Fleming Schwartz of Sunnyvale and Eleanor Fleming Skinner of Pebble Beach. Arrangements were under the direction of Roller, Hapgood & Tinney, Palo Alto.
Atefeh Bijan
Nurse at Kaiser
A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, January 14, at Alta Mesa Memorial Park, 695 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, for Atefeh "Amy" Bijan. Ms. Bijan died January 9 in a traffic accident on Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park. She was 75.
Ms. Bijan was a native of Iran and educated in England. She was marriage to the late Dr. Bijan, with whom she worked in their medical center in Tehran. Ms. Bijan founded the first nursing school in Iran, taught at the University of Tehran and was a member of parliament, where she fought for women's and children's rights, say family members.
After moving to California, she worked as an intensive care unit nurse for 20 years. In retirement, she worked as a school nurse and taught pre-natal and birthing classes at Stanford Medical Center. She served as a volunteer nurse during the conflicts in Kosovo and Moldova.
She loved swimming, walking, travel and writing. She was also passionate about music and the arts, say family members.
Ms. Bijan is survived by her three daughters: Shabnam Anderson, Sherry Bijan and Donia Bijan; brothers, Farlborz and Kamran Ebrahimi; three grandchildren; and many friends and family members.
A gathering will take place at Menlo Commons, 2140 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park, where she lived, after the January 14 services. A celebration of her life will take place at a later date.
The family prefers memorials be sent to the Bijan Memorial Fund, United Parkinson's Foundation/UPF, 833 West Washington Blvd., Chicago IL 60607. Arrangements are under the direction of Roller Hapgood & Tinney, Palo Alto.
The Rt. Rev. Charles Bennison Sr.
Retired Episcopal bishop
The Right Rev. Charles E. Bennison Sr. of Menlo Park, who served as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan from 1960 to 1984, died January 5 of Alzheimer's disease. He was 86.
Bishop Bennison was born in Janesville, Wisconsin. Educated at Lawrence College, the University of Minnesota and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, he was ordained a deacon and priest in 1942 in the Diocese of Minnesota. As a young priest during World War II, he served three parishes along the Mississippi River in that diocese and the Diocese of Eau Claire. In 1945 he became rector of Christ Church, Joliet, in the Diocese of Chicago, where he also served as chaplain at the Illinois State Penitentiary. When he was consecrated as bishop of Western Michigan in 1960, he became, at age 42, the youngest diocesan bishop in the Episcopal Church.
The son of a Minneapolis construction company owner, Bishop Bennison saw himself as a "builder," not a maintainer, of the church, say family members. During his ministry, he organized and founded three new churches and oversaw the building of the Cathedral Church of Christ the King in Kalamazoo, Michigan. During his tenure, a total of 37 buildings were built or renovated in the Diocese of Western Michigan.
Upon his retirement, Bishop Bennison served as an assisting bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles, 1986-1991, and then as an assisting bishop in the Diocese of California.
The Bennisons moved to Menlo Park 12 years ago. Bishop Bennison was active in the Menlo Park Rotary Club.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Marjorie; son Charles Jr., the bishop of Pennsylvania; daughter Mary Fleischman of Woodside, the pastoral assistant, Christ Church, Portola Valley; son John, the rector of St. John's, Clayton, California; sister CloMary Hayes, Minneapolis; and six grandchildren.
A requiem Eucharist was held January 9 at Christ Church, Portola Valley, with the Right Rev. William E. Swing, bishop of the Diocese of California, presiding.
Memorial gifts may be made to any of the following: Cathedral Foundation of the Diocese of Western Michigan; Bishop Whittemore Foundation of the Diocese of Western Michigan; Seabury-Western Theological Seminary; or Episcopal Relief and Development. Gifts should be mailed to Christ Church, 815 Portola Road, Portola Valley, 94028-7206.
Nairne Ward Jr.
Forest products executive
Nairne Forsyth Ward Jr. of Aptos, a former Atherton resident, died January 2. He was 75.
Mr. Ward was born in Oakland and grew up in Berkeley. After graduating from high school, he went on active duty in the Army Air Force in 1946 and was stationed in Germany. He retired as a colonel after 38 years of service in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserve.
Mr. Ward graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in history in 1953 and a master's degree in business administration in 1955. He was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity.
A forest products executive with MacMillan Bloedel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mr. Ward sold pulp products in the Midwest and, upon returning to California, supplied newsprint to newspapers through Northern California and the Rocky Mountain states. He later became a self-employed enrolled agent specializing in financial planning and taxes.
Mr. Ward was a lifelong swimmer and also enjoyed biking, hiking, sailing, golf and traveling, say family members. He was a former member of Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club. He was active in the Santa Cruz Bible Church and volunteered his service and support to Missionary Flights International.
In 1951 he marriage Marjorie Parr. Mr. Ward marriage again in 1997, and he and his wife, Delores Prosen Karabensh, moved to Aptos.
He is survived by his children, Kenric Forsyth Ward of Vero Beach, Florida, Stuart Parr Ward of Napa, and Sandra Ward Thomson of Saugus, California; stepchildren, David Karabensh of Santa Cruz, Joseph Karabensh of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, and Catherine Neeley of Elkmont, Alabama; a brother, Roderic Ward of Fair Oaks; four grandchildren; five step-grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, January 18, at the Santa Cruz Bible Church, 440 Frederick St., Santa Cruz. Memorials may be made to Santa Cruz Bible Church; Missionary Flights International, P.O. Box 15665, West Palm Beach, FL 33416; or Hospice Caring Project, P.O. Box 670, Aptos, CA 95001.
June Boyer
Former Ladera resident
June Hamilton Boyer died at her home in Pioneer, California, on January 4. She was 85.
Ms. Boyer grew up in Escalon, California, where she was valedictorian of her high school class of 1935. She attended Modesto Junior College and was a medical secretary when she met and marriage Raymond Boyer.
They raised their family in the Bay Area, where Ms. Boyer was a member of the Ladera Community Church and an active volunteer. The Boyers lived in Ladera for 20 years before moving to Pioneer in 1973.
Ms. Boyer traveled to many foreign countries and camped throughout the western United States and Canada. She served as a Girl Scout leader and Sunday school teacher, and assisted her husband in his contracting business.
Ms. Boyer is survived by her husband, Raymond Boyer; three children, Susan, Barbara and Jeffrey; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Memorials may be made to the Society for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, 1838 Greene Tree Road, Suite 515, Baltimore, MD 21208.
Jerome Garfield
Survivor of Pearl Harbor
Jerome H. Garfield, a resident of Menlo Park for 50 years, died January 1 at Stanford Medical Center, following a short illness. He was 88.
Mr. Garfield was an officer on the USS Arizona and survived the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. He enjoyed golf, and was an avid reader and supporter of the Menlo Park Library, say family members.
Mr. Garfield is survived by his wife of 51 years, Emily; three children, Mark, Wendy and Jonathan; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
He will be remembered for his open heart and kind, loving nature, say family members. At his request, no services will be held. Memorials may be made to a charity of choice.
Jane Gallagher
Portola Valley artist, active community volunteer
Jane Gallagher, Portola Valley artist whose paintings and sketches reflect her love of the land and respect for the environment, died January 17 at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City after a brief illness.
A memorial gathering to celebrate her life will be held at a future date. Her daughter Michelle Gallagher of Sacramento and sister Sally Reed of Ross in Marin County survive her.
Born in 1930 in Palo Alto when it was a sleepy college town, Ms. Gallagher said she had the opportunity to learn and love a very different Peninsula. Her parents proclaimed her an artist at age 3. She continued to use the studio easel that her grandfather gave her when she was 13 during 42 years in her studio in her Portola Valley home.
Ms. Gallagher studied art at San Jose University and added an English major after meeting and then marrying Jack Gallagher, then editor of the Spartan Daily.
She worked as a graphic designer/publications specialist for several companies, including SRI, Hewlett-Packard and Vidya Division, Iteko Corporation. When computers took over the art department at SRI, she faced a choice: learn computers or earn her living as an artist. She chose art and "never looked back," she said in an interview.
Ms. Gallagher's dreams of having her landscape paintings and drawings published in a book came true in 1996. Her "California -in solitude and silence," a collection of 31 landscapes in color, mostly local vistas, was published with gratitude to Rodney Smith of Portola Valley, she said, "who found my work in a backwoods gallery" and Altera Corporation of Santa Clara County.
She was actively affiliated with the Portola Valley Art Gallery, a cooperative formerly located in the Old Red Schoolhouse on Portola Road, and now relocated in former classroom space at Town Center.
Ms. Gallagher was the founder of Portola Valley's Cultural Arts Committee and played a key role in supporting the arts. Some of her paintings illustrate the recently published history of Portola Valley, "Life on the San Andreas Fault," written by Nancy Lund and Pamela Gullard. Her work also was used for the town's Millennium Campaign brochure to support the town's acquisition fund.
She often donated her art for environmental causes. A favorite environmental group was the Committee for Green Foothills, and she served on the board for the past three years.
Ms. Gallagher was honored by the town as a "star volunteer" and unofficial town artist at the town's annual celebration in December 1999.
Carole Frederick
Woodside resident
Carole Joy Frederick of Woodside died January 3. She was 72.
Ms. Frederick is survived by her husband of 54 years, Victor; children, Andy, Karl, Vicki and Karen; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Family members said she loved children and wrote this couplet for them: "I want to remember each day that I live, that it's nothing to take, but it's something to give."
The family prefers donations to the Ronald McDonald House, Palo Alto. Arrangements were under the direction of the Woodside Chapel of Crippen and Flynn, Redwood City.
Maureen Patterson
Girl Scout chairman
Maureen Ann (Galvin) Patterson died unexpectedly January 2 in Menlo Park, where she had lived for 24 years. She was 58.
Ms. Patterson was born in San Francisco and moved to San Carlos with her family in the 1950s. She graduated from Notre Dame High School and College of Notre Dame. She continued her studies at California State University, Hayward, where she obtained her elementary teaching credential. She taught in the Alum Rock School District for five years.
Ms. Patterson was very involved in the South County Girl Scout Association and had served as its cookie sales chairman, say family members.
She is survived by her husband, John Patterson; a daughter, Erin Patterson; her mother, Josephine Galvin; two brothers, Michael Galvin of San Carlos and Daniel Galvin of Danville; a sister, Kathie Comstock of San Carlos; her aunt, Elizabeth Maher of San Carlos; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
The family prefers memorial contributions to the Girl Scouts of America, Notre Dame de Namur University (College of Notre Dame), or a charity of choice.
William Moser
Menlo College registrar
A memorial gathering will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, January 24, in the Judge Russell Room at Menlo College for William Alexander (Bill) Moser. A resident of Menlo Park since 1952, Mr. Moser died peacefully at home on January 14 after a long battle with cancer. He was 78.
Mr. Moser was born and raised in Grants Pass, Oregon. He served as a hospital corpsman in the Navy during World War II and was stationed in Okinawa. After earning his associate of arts degree from Menlo College in 1948, he transferred to Indiana University and received his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1950.
After returning to Menlo College to teach science and health education, he continued his education at Stanford University, earning a master's degree in 1957.
During his years at Menlo College, Mr. Moser served as associate director of admissions from 1959 to 1962, registrar from 1962 to 1980, and again associate director of admissions from 1980 to 1988. During his years at Menlo, he took a strong interest in student groups, including "Circle K," which he helped found in 1969. Mr. Moser was also an active member of the Menlo Park Kiwanis Club.
Following his retirement in 1988, Mr. Moser volunteered in Europe, teaching English in Slovakia and Lithuania for several years. He used local resources to help provide clothes, insulin medicine for a refugee child, and educational support of Eastern Europe families and students. In 1997 he joined friends in a march protesting the rule of President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, say family members.
Mr. Moser is survived by his wife of 44 years, Anne; daughters Megan Moser Rosenhart of Menlo Park and Nancy DeShetler of Los Altos; brothers Jack Moser of Bend, Oregon, and C.J. Moser in Grants Pass, Oregon; and two granddaughters.
The family prefers that memorial donations be made to the following organizations: Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, Doctors without Borders, or Kaiser Redwood City Hospice.
George Clark
Former Atherton resident
George Clark, a 40-year resident of Atherton and Menlo Park, died January 12 in Lincoln, California. He was 79.
Mr. Clark was a native of Mishawaka, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
A veteran of World War II, he saw action with field artillery at the Battle of the Bulge in Europe.
Mr. Clark's business, Clark Door Company, was located in San Carlos. He was an active member of the Menlo Park Rotary Club and Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Clark is survived by his wife of 51 years, Dona; daughters Chris and Mary; a son, Tom; and three grandchildren.
Services were held January 17 in Lincoln. Remembrances may be sent to Lincoln Hills Community Church, 1928 Farmgate Lane, Lincoln, CA 95648.
Jenny Sorensen
Former Menlo Park resident
Jenny Aldeguer Sorensen, who lived in Menlo Park for 15 years, died January 10 in Redwood City. She was 97.
Ms. Sorensen was born in Hangkow, China. She was working for a French engineering firm in Japan when she met her husband, the late Lars Sorensen, who was Danish. The couple lived in Saigon, Thailand, and Denmark because of Mr. Sorensen's work for a London-based engineering firm, before settling in Honolulu, where they became U.S. citizens.
Ms. Sorensen came to California 19 years ago to be closer to her daughter, Trine Sorensen of Palo Alto. She is also survived by a sister, Mary Johnson of Macau, China; sister-in-law, Sally Aldeguer of London; one grandson; and relatives in Canada.
Graveside services were held at Holy Cross Cemetery, Menlo Park. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. Arrangements were under the direction of Menlo Colonial Chapel.
Patrick Rich
Woodside resident
Patrick Daniel Rich died at his home in Woodside January 14. He was 23.
Mr. Rich was born in Auburn, New York, and graduated from Weedsport High School in Weedsport, New York. He was a graduate student working toward an MBA at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont.
Mr. Rich is survived by a sister, Cynthia Rich of Camillus, New York; brothers Ronald Rich of Syracuse, New York, Gerald Rich of Washington, Illinois, and Kevin Rich of Auburn, New York; three nephews; and four nieces. He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Marilyn Rich, in 2002 and his brother, Robert Rich, in 1978.
Services were held January 19 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Camillus, New York. Arrangements were under the direction of B.L. Bush & Sons funeral home.
Bertha Cleary
Menlo Park resident
Bertha Cleary, a resident of Menlo Park for more than 50 years, died January 8. She was 85.
Ms. Cleary is survived by her children, Patricia Farrell, Maureen Cleary, Matthew Cleary, Carol Cleary and Jeffrey Cleary; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert Cleary, and two daughters, Madeline Ebling and Roberta Cleary.
A funeral Mass was held January 17 at Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park. Arrangements were under the direction of Redwood Chapel.
Albert Bianchini
Co-owner Bianchini's Market
Albert Joseph Bianchini of Woodside, co-owner of Bianchini's Market at Ladera Country Shopper, died January 21 after suffering a heart attack at his Foodville Market in San Carlos, which he had owned since 1972. He was 64.
Bianchini's Market in Portola Valley opened five years ago, with Mr. Bianchini and his son Kevin as co-owners. Kevin Bianchini is also a captain with the Woodside Fire Protection District.
Mr. Bianchini, an experienced meat-cutter, split his time between the San Carlos store and the Ladera market, getting to know local shoppers while behind the meat counter. Both of his stores are upscale markets, offering many gourmet items.
Born and raised in Redwood City, Mr. Bianchini attended Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Elementary School and Sequoia High School. He was a devoted family man, whose great loves were golfing and travel, say family members. He had lived in Woodside since 1975.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Joyce Bianchini of Woodside; three children, Kathy Bianchini-Gatton of Woodside, Kevin Bianchini of Foster City, and Christopher Bianchini of Redwood City; in-laws Val and Louise Stepisnik of Redwood City; and seven grandchildren.
A memorial Mass was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, January 27, at St. Pius Catholic Church, 1100 Woodside Road, Redwood City.
The family prefers donations to a charity of the donor's choice.
