Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Joan Pearl McDonald
Joan Pearl McDonald, 76, a one-time resident of Palo Alto, died
June 6 at a Chico hospital. She was born
in 1922 in Indianapolis, Ind. She moved to California as a child, was raised in Palo Alto, and graduated from Castilleja High School in 1941. In 1943, she married
Donald Moon in Palo Alto. She married
again in 1960, in Reno, Nev., to Clifford McDonald. She relocated to Orland in 1978 and settled in Chico in 1983. She traveled extensively throughout the United States for the last 15 years. She enjoyed conducting craft classes at the various mobile home parks at which she stayed. She is survived by her husband, Clifford McDonald of Chico; two daughters, Donna Bjork-Auger of Palo Alto and Cheryl Alaways of Chico; two sons, Jim Moon and Tom McDonald, both of Chico; two step-daughters, Phylice Jensen of Fair Oaks, and Nadine Lyon of Union City, Tenn.; one sister, Lucille Moreno of Santa Clara; 13 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. Services have been held. Memorial contributions can be made to the American Cancer Society in care of Newton-Bracewell Chico Funeral Home.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 17, 1998
Louise Renfrew
Louise Renfrew, 64, a resident of Palo Alto for 20 years, died
in San Francisco on June 15. She was active in the Junior League of Palo Alto for 30 years as well as the PTA. She was also involved in the Garden Club of Palo Alto and was an avid tennis player and runner. She is survived by three daughters, Anne Lepesant of Los Angeles, Cate Blakeseley of Portland, Ore., and Meg Renfrew of San Francisco; one son, Bruce Renfrew of Redwood City; and 6 granddaughters. Services will be held on Monday, June 22 at 2 p.m. at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St., San Francisco.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 17, 1998
Elmus Ruff
Elmus "Lin" Ruff, 81 a resident of the Menlo Park area for 51 years, died
June 10 at Stanford Hospital. He was a native of Stockton. After graduating from the University of California at Davis he took up an interest in flying. Before World War II, he got into the Civilian Pilot Training Program and during the war he became a flight instructor for Army cadets at the Mississippi Institute of Aeronautics at Jackson, Miss. and later at Souther Field, Americus, Ga. In 1945, he joined TWA and flew the DC-3, DC-4, Martin 404, all Constellations and the Convair 880. He retired a 30-year captain in 1974. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Mildred Ruff of Menlo Park; two daughters, Carol L. Woodward of Carson City, Nev., and Jeanette Tranberg of San Jose; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Private family services will be held. A memorial gathering will be held at his home on Saturday, June 20, from 2-5 p.m. Contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 4810, Burlingame, CA 94011-4810 or to Serra Parents Association, c/o John King, 160 Walter Hays Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94303.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Jun 17, 1998
Elizabeth Anne Bullinger
Elizabeth Anne Bullinger, 83, a resident of Palo Alto for 37 years, died
March 11. She was a homemaker and a long-time volunteer at Recording for the Blind and Medical Mission Sisters Resale Shop. She is survived by her husband Charles Bullinger of Palo Alto, daughters Anne Eileen Wield of Los Altos and Mary Louise Talbot of San Luis Obispo. A memorial Mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 26 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 751 Waverly St., Palo Alto.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 25, 1998
Edda Tavarez Cabrera
Edda Tavarez Cabrera, 57, a resident of Palo Alto for 27 years, died
Feb. 18 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She had been suffering from cancer for two and a half years. She was recuperating with her family in the Dominican Republic. She worked for 17 years as an instructional associate for the Sequoia Union High School, primarily at Woodside High School. She was a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and the Angelo Roncalli Community. A woman of many talents, she received awards as both a songwriter and a poet. She created art jewelry, and had exhibitions in Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and the United States. As a singer and guitarist, she participated in several concerts on stage, radio and television. Upon her death, she was taken by motorcade to be buried
in her hometown of Monte Cristi. She is survived by her husband, Richard Cabrera of Palo Alto; sons, Richard Manuel Cabrera of Morgan Hill and John Edward Cabrera of Palo Alto; sister Angela Tavarez Justo and twin sister Emma Tavarez Justo both of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; brother Eduardo Taverez Justo of Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic. Friends are invited to attend an informal gathering to be held at the Norris House, 1247 Cowper St., corner of Melville Ave. in Palo Alto, on Sunday, March 29, between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 25, 1998
Sister Rosa Corona
Sister Rosa Corona, 90, a resident of Atherton for 27 years, died
March 17 at Oakwood, Convent of the Sacred Heart in Atherton. Born in Mexico, she became an American citizen in 1974. She pursued the educational mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart as a teacher in Convents of the Sacred Heart in Latin America, Europe and the United States. She was a member of the Sequoia Art Group in Redwood City. She is survived by her sister, Sister Maria de los Angeles of the Monastery of Perpetual Adoration in San Francisco and her brother, Manuel, of Daly City. Services have been held. Memorials may be sent to the Religious of the Sacred Heart, Oakwood, 140 Valparaiso Ave, Atherton, 94027.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 25, 1998
Stanley P. Mott-Smith
Stanley P. Mott-Smith, 75, died
March 12 due to complications of Alzheimer's disease after a long struggle. He had been a Palo Alto resident for 43 years. He was born
and raised in Hawaii, graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu, and went on to complete college at the University of Washington in Seattle where he was a member and, in his senior year President of the UW chapter of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In 1965 he earned his MBA degree from Santa Clara University. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy in both World War II and the Korean conflict. Before retiring in 1987, he had worked as a Senior Contract Administrator at Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto. Motty, as he was known to many of his friends, was always active in sports, especially tennis. He was one of the founders and a member of Fremont Hills Country Club for many years before later joining the University Club of Palo Alto. He was also active in Little League affairs and at one time coached a team, the Santa Clara Sheriffs, to a first-place position in Palo Alto for the season. He is survived by his wife Jane; daughter Mimi Mott-Smith of Fresno; sons John Mott-Smith of Davis and James Mott-Smith of San Mateo, and seven grandchildren. There will be no services. A celebration of his life will be held at a time and place yet to be determined. Remembrances are suggested to the Alzheimer's Association, 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos, CA 94022 or any charity of the givers choice.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 25, 1998
Oscar Nelson
Oscar F. Nelson Jr., 85, a member of the Stanford Planning Office for almost 30 years, died
Feb. 28 at his San Francisco home of complications of asthma. Born in Omaha, Neb., he attended the University of Nebraska and received his training and degree in landscape architecture at the University of Southern California. He served in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Planners. He joined the University Planning Office in 1955 when it was one of the first such offices in the nation and had a staff of only three. He is credited with developing standards of conformity for signage, street furniture, off-street parking and campus lighting. He served for many years as executive secretary for the University Committee on Lands, Buildings and Development, and advisory committee to the president on all matters of buildings and grounds. He retired from Stanford in 1982. He had a great talent for campus planning and landscape in general. It was he who first realized that the 50-foot-high light poles being installed everywhere in the 1950s were out of scale on the Stanford campus. He started acquiring smaller, decorative light standards then being discarded by neighboring communities throughout the United States and Canada. Nelson was instrumental in getting the City of San Jose to donate to Stanford several dozen light fixtures being removed from a residential neighborhood. These fixtures formed the nucleus for the lighting standards for the university and can be seen throughout the campus center. He is survived by his son, Terence Nelson; daughter, Molly Brennan; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren all living in the Seattle area. A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, March 28, in the Chapel of Grace at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 25, 1998
Andres A. "Andy" Ramos
Andres A. "Andy" Ramos, 60, a resident of Palo Alto for 30 years, died
March 9 of cancer. Born in Isabella, Philippines, he lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for 10 years after leaving the Philippines. He also lived in Osaka, Japan and Portland, Ore. He had been involved in environmental and occupational health for 40 years. He retired from San Mateo County Department of Health and Welfare as chief of the occupational health program. In 1990, he joined San Jose State University as the Director of Environmental Health and Occupational Safety, and as an adjunct professor of health science. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne Ramos; son Gabriel Ramos of Palo Alto; brothers J.J. Ramos and Ben Ramos of Alaska, Eli Ramos of Baltimore Md., Dr. Ernie Ramos of Brea, Calif.; and sisters Rita Ramos and Bobbi Ramos-Olson of Alaska. Services have been held. Contributions may be sent to the Andy A. Ramos Memorial Scholarship fund, S.J.S.U. Foundation, 1 Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 25, 1998
Carolyn B. Young
Carolyn B. Young, 85, a resident of Palo Alto for 43 years, died
March 11 at a Santa Rosa Convalescent hospital. Born in Los Angeles, she grew up in Berkeley, graduated from Berkeley High School and spent a year at the University of California, Berkeley. After moving to Palo Alto, she held secretarial positions in the mathematics and psychology departments at Stanford, and, after retiring from Stanford, at Xerox. Her chief pleasures were foreign travel, reading and listening to music. She is survived by her son, Howard Young of Santa Rosa; daughter, Sharon Hawkins of Reno, Nev.; and three grandsons. Services have been held.
Obituary dated: Wednesday Mar 25, 1998
Matthew Barkin
Matthew Barkin, 35, a former resident of Menlo Park for 21 years, died
April 24 in Woodland. He attended school at La Loma and La Entrada in Menlo Park, The Independent Learning School in Palo Alto, and graduated from high school in Utah. He had been active in the amusement game industry since childhood. He was owner and operator of Nickel Play, an amusement game center in Modesto. He had lived in Modesto for the past two years. For several years, he lived in Santa Clara and operated the Keystone Arcade in the Almaden Mall in San Jose. He was active in the "Just Say No to Drugs" programs throughout the Bay Area, and often helped the troubled youths he came to know at his arcades. He also served for a few years as a volunteer police officer. He is survived by his parents, Corinne and Alan Barkin of Menlo Park, his sister, Janet Jacobi of Sunnyvale, brother Paul Barkin of Santa Clara, and grandmother Adele Barkin of Palo Alto. Services have been held.
Obituary dated: Wednesday May 13, 1998
