Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Channing Pollock Van Camp
Channing Pollock Van Camp, 88, a four-year resident of Palo Alto, died
March 6 in Cupertino. He was born
in Denver and spent his early years in Colorado and Kansas. After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 1933, he worked for many years in surveying and mapping operations for the U.S. Geological Survey, originally based in Sacramento. He worked in the Washington, D.C. headquarters from 1952 to 1958, then returned to California as chief of the Plans Unit for the Western Mapping Center in Menlo Park. He retired in 1973. In 1980, he moved to Prescott, Ariz., but he returned to the Bay Area in 1994. He was interested in Boy Scout activities and served as a scoutmaster while living in Palo Alto. He was active in the adult education and building and grounds committees at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Muriel Van Camp; a daughter, Laurene Faussett of Aiken, S.C.; two sons, Gary Van Camp of Garden Grove, Calif., and Warren Van Camp of Palo Alto; a brother, Eugene J. Van Camp; a sister, Sarah E. Noll of Denver; three granddaughters; and one great-granddaughter. A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 21, at 2:30 p.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto, 670 E. Meadow Drive. Contributions may be sent to the Landscape Fund at Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 18, 1998
Howard Roberts Walton
Howard Roberts Walton, 74, a 45-year resident of Palo Alto, died
March 2 in Overland Park, Kan., after a long illness. He grew up in Grosse Pointe, Mich. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1941, and moved to California shortly thereafter. He served and was decorated as a first lieutenant in the United States Army during World War II. He worked for Hiram Walker Inc., and finished his career as district manager of sales for Northern California. He is survived by four daughters, Christina Walton Olsen of Leawood, Kan., Julieanne Walton of San Jose, Elizabeth Walton Hanneman of Los Altos, and Mary Louise Walton Timmerman of West Lafayette, Ind.; a sister, Dorothy Walton Mooney of Grosse Pointe, Mich.; a brother, Jonathan Walton of Grosse Pointe, Mich.; and 10 grandchildren. Services have been held.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 18, 1998
Aileen Whitson
Aileen Whitson, 91, a 22-year resident of Menlo Park, died
March 14. She was raised in Napa and Boise, Idaho. She later lived in Spokane and Seattle, Wash., and Pendleton and Portland, Ore. In 1948, she and her husband, Ted Whitson, purchased "The Drapery Shop" in Palo Alto, which was later renamed "Whitson's Draperies." After her husband died
in 1964, she operated the business until 1972, when she sold it. She participated in many philanthropic activities in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, including the Palo Alto Women's Club, the Stanford Mother's Club, the Allied Arts Guild and the Cosmopolitan Club. A descendant of seven Revolutionary War patriots, she was a member of the Faxon D. Atherton Chapter as well as the El Palo Alto Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and served as regent of each. She also served as D.A.R. state flag chairperson and as the California State American Indian chairperson for the D.A.R. As a member of the Episcopal Church of Women, she was active in the Church Periodical Club, which provided books and other materials for seminarians and missionaries. She was one of the founders of the California Youth Symphony in 1953, and in 1966, the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, which her son, William Whitson, has directed since its inception. She traveled extensively, including a visit to her ancestral home of Blarney Castle, County Cork, Ireland. She is survived by a daughter, Jo Anne Cuddy of Bristol, Tenn.; two sons, Thomas Whitson of Sonoma and William Whitson of Palo Alto; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made to the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, 723 Matadero Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 18, 1998
Harvey Hall
Harvey Hall, 89, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died
May 21. He attended UCLA, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1930. He received his doctorate in education from Teacher's College at Columbia University. He first taught English at Sequoia High School in Redwood City in 1932. He then became Assistant Dean of Men's College of the City of New York. He returned to the West Coast after World War II and headed the division of Language and Literature at Orange Coast College in Southern California. He returned in 1948 to Stanford, where he served for 22 years as registrar and was a member of the Academic Council. He was then appointed Stanford's first ombudsman. In 1970-71, his colleagues appointed him president of the American Association of the Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. In 1972, he received Stanford's Dinkelspiel Award. He retired from Stanford in 1973. He was an active member of the Stanford Historical Society and the Palo Alto Lawn Bowls Club. In 1989, he received the Legion of Honor Award from the Kiwanis Club of the Peninsula, where he had been a member for 35 years. He is survived by three nephews. Services have been held.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 3, 1998
Margaret Loder
Margaret Loder, 93, a resident of Palo Alto for 52 years, died
May 14. She was born
in Archbold, Ohio, and graduated form the University of Michigan, where she was a Tri-Delta sorority member. She was part of one of the first pioneer families of Palo Alto. Her mother-in-law, Ella Loder, lived in the sixth house built in Palo Alto. Margaret met James Loder in New Orleans after the war and came to Palo Alto in 1946, where they lived with his mother on Florence Street for two years until their house was built on Ross Road. She lived in that house for the next 50 years. She was an English teacher in the Cupertino School District for 15 years before her retirement in 1971. While teaching in Cupertino, she was voted favorite teacher twice. She was an active member of the AAUW, and the Senior Center of Palo Alto, where she played the piano every Tuesday for 20 years. She is survived by two daughters, Helen Sturm of Cerritos, and Sharon Loder of Palo Alto. A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 3, 1998
Fred W. Matting
Fred W. Matting, 82, a longtime resident of Menlo Park, died
May 20 of cardiopulmonary failure due to terminal cancer. He was born
in San Francisco and spent his childhood in Vallejo, where he was active in Boy Scouts, attaining the rank of eagle scout. After earning his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1937, he became a teaching fellow at Yale University. Later, he taught at Kansas State University. Having been in ROTC, he was called for active duty during World War II. After the war, he settled in Menlo Park and went to work for NASA as an aerospace engineer. He was instrumental in the research of heat shields for rocket nose cones. It was while he was doing his research at NASA that he earned both a master's degree and a doctorate at Stanford University. He retired from the Army Reserve as lieutenant colonel in 1975. He later retired from NASA. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, AIAA, ASME, UC Berkeley Alumni Association, California Professional Engineers, Reserve Officers Association, and the Sierra Club. He was an avid tennis player and also enjoyed camping, hiking and mountain climbing. He is survived by a sister, Corinne Matting Bradt of Walnut Creek. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, June 9, at 3 p.m. at Stanford Memorial Church, west transept side chapel, at the end of Palm Drive on the Stanford campus. Contributions may be made to an organization of the donor's choice.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 3, 1998
Kathleen Morris
Kathleen (Huguenin) Morris, 51, a 12-year resident of Palo Alto, died
May 29 after a lengthy battle with cancer. A native of Norristown, Pa., she graduated from Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School and West Chester University. She went on to teach before joining the VISTA program in Frederick, Md. She moved west and later received both master's and doctoral degrees in education from Stanford University. She conducted policy level research, consulted and ran workshops in the areas of parent involvement and parent/teacher collaboration in school districts around the country. She spent 14 years as an active volunteer in the Palo Alto Unified School District. She volunteered at Preschool-Family, Addison Elementary School, Jordan Middle School and Palo Alto High School, as well as on the district level. She was also a dedicated volunteer with the American Cancer Society's Reach for Recovery program, counseling and supporting other women facing breast cancer. In addition, she acted as liaison between local hospitals, patients and other volunteers. She is survived by her husband, Richard Morris, and a daughter, Amanda Morris, both of Palo Alto; three sisters, Sharon Alford of Seattle, Linda Gillespie of Norristown, Pa., and Janice Crocker of Sydney, Australia; and a brother, Kenneth Huguenin Jr. of Los Altos. A memorial service will be held Thursday, June 4, at Valley Presbyterian Church at 945 Portola Road, Portola Valley. Contributions may be made to MidPeninsula Home Care and Hospice, 201 San Antonio Circle Suite 135, Mountain View, CA, 94040, or to West Chester University, Office of Development, Smith House, West Chester, PA 19383.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 3, 1998
Arline B. Sobel
Arline B. Sobel, 78, a resident of Menlo Park for 53 years, died
May 26. She raised a family and was an active volunteer. Her art work filled her home and those of family members. She is survived by a sister, Harriett Kraus of Willoughby, Ohio; three daughters, Suzanne Wiled of Marina del Rey, Deborah Sobel Brown of Palo Alto and Lauren Gard of Manhattan Beach; and four grandchildren. Services have been held. Donations may be made to the GYN Cancer Research Fund, Stanford University, Attention Dr. Nelson Teng.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 3, 1998
Archie B. Sturdevant
Col. Archie B. Sturdevant, 78, a resident of Palo Alto for 31 years, died
May 8. A native of Nebraska and graduate of the University of Nebraska, he entered the U.S. Air Force in 1941 as a commissioned officer and served for 26 years. He studied meteorology at UCLA and completed his last overseas assignment as a weather station commander in Pusan, Korea. Other areas of duty included Japan, North Africa and Puerto Rico. He received honors as both a pilot and a meteorologist. He retired from Hamilton Air Force Base, Marin County, where he served as weather operations officer. He settled in Palo Alto in 1967. A keen interest in meteorology led him to the hobby of charting weather data daily. He also enjoyed vegetable gardening. He was a member of the American Meteorological Society and the Retired Officer's Association. Phi Kappa Psi was his college fraternity. He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Arline Sturdevant of Palo Alto; a brother, Keith Sturdevant of Sun City, Ariz.; a sister, Virginia Pearce of Bakersfield; two sons, Archie B. Sturdevant III of Atlanta and John Sturdevant of Palo Alto; and three grandchildren. Services have been held. Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or Mid-Peninsula Hospice Services.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 3, 1998
Olga Stapleton
Palo Alto florist Olga Stapleton, 78, who with her husband, Harold, owned Stapleton Florist on Waverley Avenue, has died.
The Stapletons started their shop in the 1940s on University Avenue before moving it a few years later to Waverley and painting it bubble-gum pink. The building, with its striped awning and narrow facade, reminded one of a European storefront.
"We painted it pink when we moved here from University Avenue, and we've repainted it every year since. People come and take pictures of it because they think it looks European," she said in a 1994 interview with the Weekly.
While the store and the flowers have a following, the main draw was Olga Stapleton herself, clad in her trademark tam-o'-shanter, wool skirt, sweater and buckled leather clogs. Lining the walls of her shop were photographs from the weddings for which she supplied the flowers, from pale pink tulips to red roses. "I feel very lucky to be here in Palo Alto. The people are of such high caliber," she said.
She loved observing people's "life cycles," she said. "People order flowers for their weddings, when their babies arrive at the hospital. And then there are the funerals."
"She was truly a member of the family," said Palo Alto resident Anne Cribbs. "I wonder how many young Palo Altans got their first corsage or bouttoniere at Stapleton's."
"Mrs. Stapleton is never too busy to take special orders, she gives excellent advice about flowers for special occasions and can be counted on to help out in a `floral' emergency," Cribbs wrote in a nomination of Stapleton for a 1995 Tall Tree award.
The red carnations worn by police officers during May Fete parades were from Stapleton's.
In 1945, the Stapletons moved from Duluth, Minn., where Harold's father was the largest flower and plant merchant in the region stretching from Duluth to Chicago.
In those days, people sought mostly roses, daisies, carnations and gladiolus. After more than 50 years, Stapleton didn't think about retirement. "Every month there's change. There are always new flowers. Exotics or daisies, I never get tired of them."
Stapleton is survived by her sister, Irene Miller. Harold Stapleton died
several years ago. Services were scheduled for June 2 at the Chapel of Roller, Hapgood & Tinney, Palo Alto. Contributions to charity of donor's choice preferred.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 3, 1998
Elizabeth Baker
Elizabeth Baker, a resident of Menlo Park and Palo Alto since 1973, died
June 19 at the age of 95. She was born
in Youngston, Ohio but grew up in California, attending both Pomona College and the University of Southern California. She moved often with her late husband, G. Derwoood Baker, an educator, and eventually came to Menlo Park to retire. She was a career volunteer as she became very involved in each community she lived in. She had been an active member in the League of Women Voters since 1937 and was designated a lifetime member. While living in Montclair, N.J., she became the president of the local league and was later elected to the board for the state league of New Jersey. In 1995, during the 75th anniversary of the League of Women Voters at the South San Mateo County chapter, she was honored for her lifelong commitment to the organization. She was involved with many other organizations throughout her life, including the American Association of United Nations in New York and Planned Parenthood. After her retirement, she continued in her volunteering efforts through several other local organizations including the Committee for Art and Music Guild of Stanford University and the Downtown Food Closet in Palo Alto. She was known for her flair for entertaining and her dedication to the communities in which she lived. She is survived by two daughters, Diana Steeples and Susan Hartzell, both of Palo Alto; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Services will be held June 28 at 1:30 p.m. at the Palo Alto Unitarian Church, 505 East Charleston Road. Gifts may be made to the League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 24, 1998
