Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Francis 'Frank' Draeger, founder of Draeger's Supermarkets
Frank Draeger, a pillar in the local grocery business, passed away unexpectedly on July 2 at his home in Hillsborough. He was 86.
Born on April 1, 1919 to Gustave and Harriet Draeger in San Francisco, Draeger learned to love the grocery business, working alongside his father in the family's delicatessen and liquor stores. His experience eventually led him to establish Draeger's Supermarkets, a gourmet food store with three locations on the Peninsula, including Los Altos.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Mary (Diepenbrock) Draeger, his sister, Harriet Draeger, 10 children, 9 sons- and daughters-in-law and 22 grandchildren.
Draeger's life will be celebrated at a rosary vigil at 7 p.m. Friday, July 8 and at a funeral service at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 9 at St. Bartholomew's Church, San Mateo.
Send donations to St. Vincent de Paul, 50 North B St., San Mateo.
Obituary dated: Friday, July 08, 2005
Anne Eleanor Russell
Anne Eleanor Russell, a 34-year resident of Palo Alto who often worked in Mountain View as a TheatreWorks volunteer, died
suddenly of a heart attack at Stanford Hospital on June 26. She was 71.
Russell was born
in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Ohio.
She graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in mathematics and worked tracking satellites in Pasadena at the height of the Cold War.
Russell was known for her extensive and eclectic wardrobe, and her remarkable daily outfits were often purple. Family members said she was as a dedicated school volunteer, an expert cake decorator, a property manager and was also active in her sorority. Her only weakness, according to family members, was her notorious tardiness.
Russell is survived by her former husband, Stanton Axline; her brother, David Russell; her son, Thomas Axline; her daughter, Sheryl Axline; and four grandchildren ranging in age from 18 months to 20 years old.
A memorial service was held June 30 at the Lucie Stern Community Center in Palo Alto.
Obituary dated: Friday, July 08, 2005
Joan Kay Van Stone
A memorial service will be held for Joan Kay Van Stone, co-founder of the Community School of Music and Arts at 3 p.m. on Feb. 12 at CSMA's Finn Center.
Van Stone, along with Natalie Werbner, conceived, founded and nourished the nonprofit community school that provides instruction in music and the arts to adults and children. Over the last 36 years, Van Stone ran the administrative end of the school.
And last spring, the California State Assembly formally recognized the school's contribution to the area and Van Stone and Werbner as its co-founders.
"Joan nourished the school from infancy through the growing stages and until it's what it is today," said Mary Bender, former executive director of CSMA. "She was the visionary mother of the school.
She had an idea of what she wanted, and she made it happen, not just by herself, but through others.
She cared about the people who worked there as much as the idea."
Van Stone was born
in Columbus, Ohio and died
Dec. 15, 2004 in Washington, D.C. She was 74.
She graduated from Ohio State University and received a master's degree in music therapy from Florida State University.
She moved to Palo Alto in 1967 with her husband William Van Stone and their children.
Her accounting business provided services for multiple nonprofit organizations, including the Palo Alto YMCA.
Van Stone moved to Washington D.C. with her husband in 1989, where she became involved in the local chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. She served as the full-time volunteer executive director of the chapter.
She is survived by her husband William Van Stone, her three children, David, Kathy and Lisa, and her two grandchildren Matthew and Alex.
The memorial service at CSMA will be followed by a reception.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in her name to CSMA, Finn Center, 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View, CA 94040l; Metro DC PFLAG, 111 14th Street, NW, Suite 350, Washington D.C., 20005; or to the American Cancer Society.
Obituary dated: Friday, February 04, 2005
Florentina Cordeiro
Florentina "Tina" Cordeiro died
April 19 in her Mountain View home.
She was 65. A 46-year resident of Mountain View, she owned the Cordeiro Nursing home.
She is survived by her sister, Pedro Avila of Chowchilla, and John M. Avila Jr. and Filomena Azevedo Avila, both of the Azores, and Maria Clementina Oliveria of Mountain View.
She also is survived by her nieces and nephews.
The funeral was held April 25 at St. Athanasius Catholic Church in Mountain View.
Obituary dated: Friday, May 06, 2005
Gertrude King
Gertrude King, a 47-year Mountain View resident who worked for more than three decades as a mechanic fixing jet airplanes, died
in Los Altos on April 29.
Born on June 12, 1914 in Fort Collins, Colo., King moved to California in 1948 when United Airlines transferred her.
She worked as a mechanic for the airlines for 33 years.
Her brothers, Ernest and Richard Gunninson, sister Dorothy Adams and son Chester King preceded her in death.
She is survived by two daughters, Bonny Collins of Palo Alto and Nancy Smith of Mountain View, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
A memorial service was held May 6 at Spangler Mortuary in Los Altos.
Donations may be made to a charity of choice.
Obituary dated: Friday, May 13, 2005
Palmira Monighetti
Palmira "Polly" Monighetti died
in her Mountain View home May 4 at the age of 96.
Her family called her "Palmira" because she was born
on Palm Sunday April 4, 1909 in Torino, Italy.
Monighetti moved to California with her family when she was 4 years old.
In 1944 she married
Dante "Don" Monighetti and moved to Mountain View.
She worked at a number of delicatessens during her life, including the State Deli on Castro Street.
Monighetti is preceded in death by her husband, two brothers and three sisters.
She is survived by a brother, Aldo Ausano of Mountain View, her son Richard of San Jose, and several grandchildren.
The funeral mass was May 11 at St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Obituary dated: Friday, May 13, 2005
Lois Rippentrop
Lois Rippentrop, a San Francisco native who lived in Mountain View for more than 30 years, died
May 26 in Granite Bay at the age of 71.
Born to William and Levia Borelli on Oct. 24, 1933, Rippentrop was sister to Arlene Hipsher and Bill Borelli.
She had four children -- Robert, David and Kevan Rippentrop and Jodi Mazure -- and eleven grandchildren.
A memorial service was held June 2 at St. Peter and Paul in Rocklin, and services were held the next day at the Gates of Heaven Catholic Cemetery
in Los Altos.
Contributions in Lois Rippentrop's name can be sent to the American Cancer Society, 2744 Marconi Ave., Sacramento, Calif., 95821; or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn., 38105.
Obituary dated: Friday, June 10, 2005
Helen 'Aunto' Kos
Helen A. "Aunto" Kos, a native New Yorker who moved to Mountain View to be near her family, died
on May 28. She was 67.
Kos is survived by her sister Anna Kos and nieces and nephews Jerylann Mateo, Joann Martinez and Jeff Mossner, as well as several great-nieces and great-nephews.
A memorial service was held June 4 at the Cusimano Family Colonial Mortuary, and a private inurnment was held at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Contributions in Kos' name can be made to the American Diabetes Association.
Obituary dated: Friday, June 10, 2005
Kenneth A. Hansen
Kenneth A. Hansen, a Mountain View native, martial arts master and family owner of the city's Palm Motel, died
July 12 after a 15-month battle with lung cancer. He was 67.
Hansen held the rank of first-degree black belt instructor, and placed 16th in the 1954 Junior World Olympics.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1955 and instructed platoons in jujitsu, judo and other forms of hand-to-hand fighting.
Hansen's family described him as an avid dancer who loved to cook and entertain friends with his jokes and colorful stories.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice of the Valley or the American Cancer Society.
Obituary dated: Friday, July 22, 2005
