Eckle "Jack" Ashworth
Eckle "Jack" Ashworth, 90, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died Nov. 15. A native of Dante, Va., he was raised in Tennessee. He was a veteran of World War II and was awarded the Silver Star for his heroics during the Battle of the Bulge. He worked as an occupational therapist with the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Menlo Park until his retirement in 1974. He was a 50-year member of American Legion Post 472 and was involved with several other community organizations. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Bernice Ashworth of Palo Alto; two daughters, Anita Kirkpatrick of Denair and Shirley Allen of Auburn; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Services have been held. Donations may be made c/o George Tablock, American Legion Post 472, 2160 University Ave., East Palo Alto 94303.
Frances Sowles Butler
Frances Sowles Butler, 73, a resident of Palo Alto for seven years, died Nov. 12 after a long illness. Born in Boston, she grew up in Wellesley Hills, Mass., and graduated from Skidmore College. She moved to California in 1950, spending 23 years in Lafayette. She was an avid gardener, bridge player and animal lover. She was involved in Junior League in the East Bay and later was a member of the Metropolitan Club in San Francisco. She is survived by three daughters, Allison Butler of Menlo Park, Daryle Butler of Bethesda, Md., and Shelley Butler of Seattle; a son, Brett Butler of San Rafael; a sister, Ellen Cron of Sudbury, Mass.; a brother, Austin Sowles of Wellesley Hills, Mass.; and five grandchildren. Services are being arranged. Donations may be made to Pets in Need, 873 5th Ave., Redwood City 94063, or to the Midpeninsula Hospice Foundation.
Publication Date: Wednesday Dec 2, 1998
Virginia Engasser
Virginia Engasser, 87, a longtime resident of Menlo Park, died Nov. 21. A native of Ohio, she moved to Los Angeles with her husband, Raymond, in 1939 and to Menlo Park in 1977. She is survived by a daughter, Patricia Gayle Engasser of Atherton; a brother, Jack Frank of New York; and a granddaughter. Services have been held. Donations may be made to St. Anthony Padua Dining Room, 3500 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park 94025.
Publication Date: Wednesday Dec 2, 1998
Alfred Nylander
Alfred Nylander, 71, a resident of Palo Alto, died Nov. 11. Born in Kearney, N.J., he was a veteran of World War II. He moved to California in 1960, where he founded A.I.M. Inc. and did consulting in agricultural chemicals. Before his retirement, he was an employee of Cisco Systems. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Palo Alto. He is survived by two sons, Fred Nylander of Morgan Hill and Curtis Nylander of San Rafael; a daughter, Janice Stagnaro of Santa Cruz; and seven grandchildren. Services have been held.
Publication Date: Wednesday Dec 2, 1998
Penny Angell
Penny Angell, a longtime Menlo Park resident and a tireless civic volunteer, died Nov. 19 after a brief illness. She was 80.
Angell was a dedicated member of Little House, teaching the weekly country line-dancing class, organizing the Thursday night dances and Sunday tea dances and taking her troupe of dancers to perform at other senior centers. She also delivered food to house-bound seniors for Little House's Meals on Wheels program, according to Becca French, the director of Little House.
"People that give of their lives, once their lives are over, they leave a space behind," French said.
Born in Virginia, Angell moved to Menlo Park in 1964 and began attending City Council meetings. She made a point of going to every council meeting, quipping once that she did it because somebody needed to keep an eye on the council members.
She sat in the same seat on Tuesday nights, bundled into a heavy sweater and Isotoner gloves as protection against the council chamber's air conditioning system, and she usually came armed with a paperback novel in case things got dull.
"I'm going to miss seeing her at the council meetings," said Menlo Park resident Connie Johnson, another regular at the meetings.
A Willows resident, Angell was very supportive of the Belle Haven neighborhood and volunteered at the Belle Haven police substation, Johnson said.
Angell was at the substation almost every day for three years, answering phones, said Menlo Park Police Chief Bruce Cumming.
"She enjoyed it, and we enjoyed having her there," he said.
Besides being a regular volunteer at the Menlo Park Farmers' Market on Sundays, she was also a supporter of the Peninsula Symphony, to which she donated funds to buy a new timpani drum in her husband's memory in 1996, and the San Francisco Symphony.
A memorial service is planned for 4 p.m. Sunday at Little House senior center, 800 Middle Ave., Menlo Park. The service will precede the annual Snowflake Ball, a swing dance and buffet dinner that Angell had organized for the past 20 years.
She was preceded in death by her husband, David Angell. She is survived by her son, John P. Angell of Madison, Wisc.; her sister, Julia Norris of Richmond, Va.; and her niece, Anne Scharenberger of Virginia Beach, Va.
Publication Date: Wednesday Dec 2, 1998
Claude A. Buss
Claude A. Buss, a Stanford professor emeritus of history and former U.S. Foreign Service officer and consultant on foreign affairs, died Nov. 17 at his Palo Alto home. He was 94.
The recipient of a State Department "scroll of honor" in 1968 for meritorious service, Buss had served as a civilian consultant to the Allied occupation forces in Japan and later as a special Southeast Asia consultant to the U.S. Embassy in Japan. He had earlier served as director of the Office of War Information in San Francisco and as a consultant to the War Department.
Buss received a bachelor's degree in 1922, a master's in 1924 and a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1927. He also held an L.L.D. from the University of Southern California. After advanced study in Paris, he became a U.S. Foreign Service officer. He served as an attache for language study at the U.S. legation in Beijing from 1927 to 1928 and as vice consul in Nanking from 1931 to 1934. He then joined the faculty of the University of Southern California, where he taught until 1941. He left to become executive assistant to the U.S. high commissioner in the Philippines, where in 1943 he surrendered Manila to the Japanese and was interned for two years.
He became a history professor at Stanford University in 1946, teaching until his retirement in 1969. He was a Fulbright exchange professor at the University of the Philippines in 1957 and 1959 and was named a Carnegie teaching fellow in international law. He became acting dean of academic affairs at the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies in 1977.
He is survived by a daughter, Lynne Curtiss of Palo Alto; four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. There will be no services. Donations may be made for Central American hurricane relief to: the International Red Cross Response Fund, Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013; the Salvation Army, World Service Office, 615 Slaters Lane, Alexandria, VA 22313; or Save the Children, Box 975-M, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, CT 06880.
Publication Date: Wednesday Dec 2, 1998
