Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Achilles "Killy" Massahos
Achilles Charles Massahos called himself a "seat-of-the-pants" type of confectioner. The founder of Candies & Cookies at the Stanford Barn Shops, Massahos died
Feb. 9 at the age of 74.
A second generation Greek-American and candymaker, he learned his craft from his father. For 30 years he ran his shop at the Old Stanford Barn, hand making chocolates and sweets so that they would always be fresh daily. Several times, local newspapers would feature Killy in his shop, always with a big smile and a big tummy. "I taste everything I make every day," he told the Weekly for a 1988 feature on the best sweets in town.
Born in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1924, he left home during World War II to serve in the Merchant Marine. Then he came home to marry his high school sweetheart, Billy, in 1945. "He was very handsome and had a wonderful sense of humor. I think that's what attracted me to him," Billy said. She recalled that he asked to borrow her gloves as an excuse to walk her home from school one day, and later he charmed her into doing his homework for him. They married
right after the war, in 1945.
Together they moved to Palo Alto in 1959 and opened their shop in 1960. All four of their children went to school here, graduating from Cubberley High School. During the summer breaks and after school, the children worked at the candy shop with their parents. "They really enjoyed it," Billy said. After retiring, Billy and Killy traveled and explored their favorite parts of the coast. They took their grandchildren fishing, just as they did with their own children, and continued to have family gatherings every Sunday.
Massahos is survived by his wife; two sons, Achilles Massahos Jr. of Oregon and Christopher Massahos of Palo Alto; one daughter, Jacquelyn Beauvais of Palo Alto; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Services have been held. No donations are requested.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 10, 1999
Marion Sibley Bracken
Marion Sibley Bracken, an activist for the rights of the developmentally disabled and co-founder of Palo Alto's Community Association for Rehabilitation (C.A.R.), died
March 31 at her home in Palo Alto. She was 79.
Bracken, a 48-year Palo Alto resident, worked for more than 40 years at local and state levels as an advocate for people with developmental disabilities. In the mid-1950s she helped found C.A.R., a Palo Alto community-based service center for the developmentally disabled. The center, which gives families caring for developmentally-disabled children an alternative to institutionalization, was a revolutionary concept for its time.
"In those days, institutionalization was expected. People like Marion felt strongly that children should be able to learn, and to be part of their families and their communities," said C.A.R. Human Resources Director Margaret Hauck.
"Marion was always exciting to work with. She was creative, and had a positive, optimistic attitude. She motivated the best in you," Hauck said.
A native of Detroit, Bracken was raised in Pontiac, Mich. and received her undergraduate degree in education at Eastern Michigan University. She did graduate work in special education at San Jose State University and taught children with disabilities in the Palo Alto Unified School District for 13 years.
Bracken served as an honorary C.A.R. board member for more than 20 years, and created the Bracken Guild to raise funds for the center in 1971. She was honored for her work at the center in 1997 with the creation of the Marion S. Bracken Achievement Award and Endowment Fund. The award is given each year to the C.A.R. client who has made the most progress toward meeting his or her personal goals. Bracken was also instrumental in creating a preschool at the center, which has since developed into an early-intervention program for infants with developmental disabilities.
For almost 40 years Bracken was active in the Association for the Mentally Retarded at Agnews Developmental Center in Santa Clara. She received appointments to the Governor's Advisory Board at Agnews and also to the Area Developmental Disabilities Board VII, for which she was legislative affairs chair for six years.
Agnews Executive Director Julie Garcia remembered Bracken as a passionate supporter of the rights of the developmentally disabled. Until November of this year Bracken advocated for Senate Bill 1649, which would expand managed care services for children and adults with special needs.
On March 6, a special tribute was held at Agnews in Bracken's honor and Willow Court was renamed "The Marion Bracken Training and Education Center" A sundial was dedicated and inscribed to Bracken at the site.
Bracken is survived by John Bracken, her husband of 56 years; a daughter, Heather Bracken of Granite Bay, Calif.; and two sons, Brendan Bracken of Santa Clara and John Wesley Bracken of San Jose. Services will be held at the chapel on the Agnews campus in Santa Clara on Saturday, April 10 at 3 p.m. Contributions may be made to the Association for the Mentally Retarded at Agnews, P.O. Box 4683, Santa Clara, CA 95054, or to a charity of the donor's choice.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Apr 7, 1999
Franklin Seaney Cooper
Franklin Seaney Cooper, an expert on speech perception and synthesis, died
Feb. 20.
He was 90 and had lived in Palo Alto for the past 10 years.
Raised in the Midwest, he majored in physics at University of Illinois and received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After earning his doctorate, he and his wife, Francis Edith Clem, married
in 1935.
That same year, he and partner Caryl P. Haskins, co-founded Haskins Laboratories, a Connecticut-based private, nonprofit research laboratory devoted to the study of speech and language.
He served there as president and director of research for many years.
His primary interest, in speech synthesis and perception, led him to invent an early electro-mechanical device for synthesizing speech.
It became a forerunner of contemporary computer-based speech programs.
He took a leave of absence only once, during World War II and shortly thereafter.
From 1941-46 he came to Washington, D.C., at the request of Vannevar Bush, then science adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt, to take a position in the Office of Scientific Research and Development.
During the war, he also consulted for several public entities, including the Department of Defense and the United Nations.
A second invitation to Washington came in 1973, when he was selected to form a panel of six experts charged with investigating the famous 18-minute gap in President Richard Nixon's Oval Office tapes discussing the Watergate conspiracy.
He received many awards and honoraria in his field, including an honorary doctor of science degree from Yale University in 1976.
He had held appointments at several universities, including Yale and Stanford, where he became a fellow at the center for Advanced Behavioral Sciences in the mid-1960's.
He and his wife moved to Palo Alto in 1989.
They loved being closer to their family and attending First United Methodist Church.
His son Alan recalled how much his father enjoyed browsing at Bell's Books, where he had a penchant for literature from the 1920s, and going to Jim's Coffee Shop downtown.
He particularly liked to take in the classic movies at the Stanford Theater as well.
He is survived by his sons, Alan Kent of Palo Alto and Robert Craig of Virginia; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto.
Contributions may be made to the Franklin S. Cooper Fellowship, c/o Betty Delise, Haskins Laboratories, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 06511.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 10, 1999
Thurston I. Benson
Thurston Benson, 85, died
Dec. 17 after a long illness. Born and raised in Boston, he obtained a law degree from Suffolk University. He served with U.S. armed forces in Italy during World War II and then in Austria. He later became an investigator for the U.S. government and lived in Palo Alto for 44 years. He was a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, the Palo Alto Masonic Roller Lodge No. 346 and the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn Benson of Palo Alto; his brother, Richard Benson of Marston Mills, Mass.; and three sons, Robert Benson of Lafayette, Richard Benson of Bend, Ore., and William Benson of Palo Alto. Services are pending. No donations are requested.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jan 6, 1999
Shirley Wendt Hanbery
Shirley Wendt Hanbery, 78, died
Dec. 16 from heart complications. Born in San Jose, she graduated from Stanford University in 1942. Her husband, John, became the head of neurosurgery at Stanford Hospital, and the family settled in Atherton. She belonged to several organizations, including the local PTAs and Stanford Mothers Club. A volunteer docent specializing in antiquities at the Stanford Museum, she helped organize the Committee for Art at Stanford to raise funds for repairing earthquake damage to the museum. She also enjoyed photography and world travel. She is survived by three daughters: Carol MacKay of Austin, Texas, Janet MacKenzie of Atherton, and Lynn Fuller of Albany; her son, John Hanbery of San Francisco, and five grandchildren. Services will be held Monday at 3:30 p.m. at Stanford Memorial Church. Donations can be made to the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jan 6, 1999
Dr. Jerome M. Katz
Dr. Jerome M. Katz, 58, died
Dec. 22 in Menlo Park. He grew up in Portland, Ore., graduating from the University of Oregon Dental School.
He served in Vietnam as an Army captain before settling in Los Altos.
For many years, he enjoyed playing at the Palo Alto Duplicate Bridge Center.
Forced by multiple sclerosis to retire early from his Sunnyvale dental practice, he became active in the Physically Limited Program at De Anza College and as a volunteer research subject for multiple sclerosis studies.
He is survived by his wife, Carole Katz of Los Altos, and his son, Dr. Michael Katz of San Francisco.
Services have been held. Donations can be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Research Funding, 733 3rd Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jan 6, 1999
Mary Madden Spencer
Mary Madden Spencer, 80, died
Dec. 19 at Lytton Gardens. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, she was known as one of the "Betty Crockers" when she worked at the Pillsbury mills during World War II. A homemaker and Palo Alto resident for 51 years, she was an active member of the Allied Arts Guild and the PTAs of Green Gables and Crescent Park elementary schools, Jordan Middle School and Palo Alto High School. She is survived by her husband, David Spencer of Palo Alto; her brother, Arch Madden of Des Moines; her sister, Virginia Resch of San Jose; her daughter, Linda McCrary of Mountain View; her son, Clifford Spencer of Aurora, Colo.; and four grandsons. Services are pending. Donations may be made to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, 300 Homer Ave., Palo Alto 94301, or to Lytton Gardens Health Care Center, 437 Webster St., Palo Alto 94301.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jan 6, 1999
Ida DeWitt
Ida DeWitt, 99, died
Dec. 24. A native of Russia, she came to America, passing through Ellis Island, when she was 2. Her family was among the first wave of Russian immigrants to enter the United States. A homemaker, she retired to Palo Alto in the 1970s. She is survived by her daughter, Marjorie Rose of Palo Alto; her son, Don DeWitt of Los Angeles; eight grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. Services have been held. Donations may be made to MidPeninsula Hospice Foundation, 65 El Camino Real, Menlo Park 94025-5232.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jan 20, 1999
Dr. Jerome M. Katz
Dr. Jerome M. Katz, 58, died
Dec. 22 in Menlo Park. He grew up in Portland, Ore., graduating from the University of Oregon Dental School. He served in Vietnam as an Army captain before settling in Los Altos. For many years, he enjoyed playing at the Palo Alto Duplicate Bridge Center. Forced by multiple sclerosis to retire early from his Sunnyvale dental practice, he became active in the Physically Limited Program at De Anza College and as a volunteer research subject for multiple sclerosis studies. He is survived by his wife, Carole Katz of Los Altos, and his son, Dr. Michael Katz of San Francisco. Services have been held. Donations may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Research Funding, 733 3rd Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jan 20, 1999
