Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Jerrell Siegel
Jerrell Siegel, 59, a 35-year resident of Menlo Park, died
Aug. 30 of multiple sclerosis after a long illness.
Born in San Francisco, she was a graduate of U.C. Berkeley.
She was the first female president of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, from 1979 to 1981.
She is survived by her husband, Marvin S. Siegel of Menlo Park; a son, Dan K. Siegel of Menlo Park; a daughter, Lara Siegel of Menlo Park; and a sister, Eleanor Coffman of San Francisco. Services have been held.
Contributions may be made to the California Jewish Heritage Fund, c/o Congregation Beth Am.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 30, 1998
Leslie Shao-ming Sun
Leslie Shao-ming Sun, 45, a resident of Atherton, died
Sept. 13 after a brief battle with cancer.
She was born
in Saipan in the Mariana Islands and moved to California in 1960.
She was a graduate of Cubberley High School and Stanford University.
After graduating she moved to the East Coast to work for the David Baltimore Laboratories at MIT and the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research Center in New York.
Once back in California she served as a board member of Stanford Associates and was a fund-raiser for the alumni foundation.
She was a volunteer docent at the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve.
She is survived by her husband, Anthony Sun of Atherton; two sons, Christopher and Timothy Sun, both of Atherton; her parents, Annie and Francis Suen of Palo Alto; two sisters, Rita Hsu of Los Altos Hills and Dora Long of Alameda; and a brother, Mickey Suen of Palo Alto.
Contributions may be made to the Leslie Sun Memorial Fund for Jasper Ridge, c/o Stanford University.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 30, 1998
Margaret Davis Wolff
Margaret Davis Wolff, 69, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died
Sept. 23.
She was born
in Long Beach and entered Stanford University in 1945 at age 16.
After graduation she taught elementary school in the Los Altos and Cupertino school districts for more than 30 years.
During her teaching career she carried on her own education at Foothill College and through continuing education at Stanford.
Following her retirement in 1982, she joined NASA Ames Research Center, undertook part-time work in local shops and volunteered at the Stanford Museum. She is survived by three daughters, Kathy Wolff of Palo Alto, Betsy Wolff of San Mateo and Gretchen Reynolds of Sunnyvale; two sisters, Millicent Froehlich of San Diego and Eleanor Bortner of Cupertino; and two grandchildren.
Services have been held.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 30, 1998
Felice Yvonne Bennet
Felice Yvonne Bennet, 85, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died
Aug. 21 at Stanford hospital.
She was born
in England and became an American citizen in 1979.
She is a graduate of Foothill College and San Jose State University, and worked for many years at Stanford library in the rare book department.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Palo Alto Masonic Center.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 23, 1998
Bruce A. Bigwood
Bruce A. Bigwood, 57, a longtime resident of the Menlo Park area, died
Sept. 5.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, he spent the last 10 years as director of benefits and compensation for California Microwave of Sunnyvale.
He is survived by his wife, Dee Weldon White of Portola Valley; a son, Bryce Bigwood of San Francisco; three daughters, Erika Bigwood Keaton of San Rafael, Erin Bigwood of Tahoe City and Lexie White Strain of San Mateo; his mother, Alberta Bigwood of Erie, Pa.; a sister, Elaine Lewis of Bowie, Md.; and a brother, Gary Bigwood of Waterford, Pa.
A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.
Donations can be sent to the University of Notre Dame, Bruce A. Bigwood Memorial Fund, c/o Carol Hennion, Development Department, 1100 Grace Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, or the Lamplighter Theater Group, 630 3rd St., San Francisco, CA 94107.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 23, 1998
Elede M. Hall
Elede M. "Toppy" Hall, 77, a librarian and 31-year resident of Menlo Park died
Sept. 13 due to cancer of the pancreas.
Born and raised in San Francisco, she was a member of the first graduating class at George Washington High School.
In 1972 she became company librarian for the Addison-Wesley-Longman Publishing Company. She retired in 1997.
She was also a volunteer oral historian for the Calfiornia Historical Society.
She is survived by a sister, Eleonor Morris of New York; and a son, Bruce Hall of Pacifica.
There will not be a funeral service.
Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, the Kaiser Redwood City Hospice Program or any other hospice.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 23, 1998
Virginia Cromwell Jacobson
Virginia Crowell Jacobson died
Sept. 17 at Lytton Gardens Health Center in Palo Alto, after six months with leukemia.
She was born
in Los Angeles and moved to Alaska after her marriage.
In 1963 she moved to Palo Alto and worked in the bookkeeping department of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic until her retirement in 1990.
She served as secretary for the Peninsula Gem and Geology Society for the past 12 years.
She is survived by a nephew, a niece and three grandnephews.
No services will be held.
Memorial donations can be made to a charity of the donor's choice.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 23, 1998
Ronald B. Johnson
Ronald B. Johnson, 92, a resident of Palo Alto for 46 years, died
Sept. 15.
He was born
in Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota.
While teaching science and mathematics in Ironwood, Mich., he invented the first electrical test-scoring machine.
He sold the invention to IBM in 1934 and began to work for the company's laboratory in Endicott, New York, where he received more than 50 patents on his inventions.
In 1952 he was transferred to San Jose to manage IBM's first West coast research and engineering laboratory.
There he lead the team that developed the first magnetic disk file which was packaged inside a computer, called the RAMAC.
This rotating disk technology has been under continuous development and refinement by IBM and many other companies since that time, resulting in immense improvements in cost, speed and storage capacities.
He was laboratory manager of the IBM Advanced Systems Division laboratories in San Jose and Los Gatos until 1965, when he was appointed an IBM fellow.
On his retirement in 1971 he opened Education Engineering Associates in Palo Alto, a small laboratory devoted to the development of learning tools.
At the time of his death he held some 90 patents.
He is survived by his wife, Beatrice Rashleigh Johnson of Palo Alto; two sons, Philip Johnson and David Johnson, both of Washington D.C.; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Services have been held.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 23, 1998
Mary E. O'Hearn
Mary O'Hearn, 69, a 35-year resident of Atherton, died
Sept. 20.
She worked 13 years as an editorial receptionist for the San Francisco Chronicle.
She was a member of the Live Oaks Lions Club of Menlo Park, she was the first female president of a Lions Club from 1989 to 1990.
She is survived by her husband, M.V. O'Hearn; a daughter, Lisa O'Hearn of Atherton; three sons, Maury O'Hearn of Atherton, Bill O'Hearn of Atherton and Bob O'Hearn of Atherton; and grandmother of three.
There will be a memorial service Friday at 11 a.m. at the Nativity Church, 210 Oak Grove Ave. in Menlo Park.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 23, 1998
Gunnar Holmfred Stevenson
Gunnar Holmfred Stevenson, 87, a resident of Palo Alto for 23 years and Menlo Park for 45 years, died
Sept. 16.
Born in Sweden, he came to Palo Alto at the age of 19 and spent much of his working life as an electrician in Silicon Valley.
He served with the Merchant Marine in the Pacific during World War II.
He is survived by a son, Philip Erik Stevenson of South Orange, N.J.; a daughter, Phoebe Newlove of Los Gatos; a brother, Erik Stefansson of Torekov, Sweden; and a granddaughter.
Services have been held.
Contributions may be made to the Peninsula Volunteers, Little House, 800 Middle Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 23, 1998
Carlton Whitehead
Carlton Whitehead, 95, a former longtime resident of Palo Alto, died
Sept. 11 in Orlando, Fla.
He was born
in Hall County, Georgia, and graduated from Emory University.
He moved to California to attend U.C. Berkeley.
From 1939 to 1966 he taught languages and other subjects in Palo Alto, first at Jordan Junior High School for 16 years, then at Wilbur Junior High School for 10 years.
He moved to Florida 19 years ago.
He is survived by his wife, Frances Whitehead of Orlando, Fla.; two daughters, Emily Bowen of Dahlonega, Ga., and Leslie Cummings of Lithonia, Ga.; a son, Clay Whitehead of Lincoln, Neb.; a sister, Mary Whitehead Clark of Palo Alto; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Services have been held.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Sep 23, 1998
