Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Charlotte Howard
Services will be June 7 for Charlotte May Howard, who died May 16 in Soquel. She was 96.
A Seattle native, Mrs. Howard had lived in Santa Cruz County for more than 55 years.
She enjoyed music and gave her first piano recital at age 9. She majored in music and fine arts while attending Washington State University and the University of Washington.
She worked in advertising at the Seattle Times for 12 years.
She enjoyed sports and liked watching professional baseball and football. She was an avid golfer and she and her late husband were members of the Pasatiempo Golf Club.
She was a member of the Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington, having hailed from a well-known pioneering family in Seattle. Thomas Mercer, her great-great-grandfather was the first Superior Court Judge for the Washington territory and the namesake of Mercer Island. Asa Mercer, her great-great uncle, was the first president of the University of Washington when it opened in 1863.
Mrs. Howard was active with the Daughters of the American Revolution, the American Association of University Women and the Republican Club for Women.
While vacationing in Capitola in 1948, she and her family decided to make the Santa Cruz area their home.
Mrs. Howard later received a bachelor’s in education from San Jose State University.
She taught elementary school for 15 years in Soquel and later at the two-room Vine Hill School in Scotts Valley, which she and another teacher opened in 1962. She retired in 1965.
She attended St. John’s Episcopal Church in Capitola until her family moved to Pasatiempo. She then became active with St. Cecilia’s Guild at Calvary Episcopal Church in Santa Cruz.
She later attended St. Philips Episcopal Church in Scotts Valley after the family moved there.
She is survived by three sons, Daniel McLaughlin Sr. and Richard McLaughlin, both of Scotts Valley, and Timothy McLaughlin of Reno, Nev.; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Her husband, William Howard, died in 1993.
Services are June 7 at 3 p.m. at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Scotts Valley.
Contributions are preferred to St. Philip’s, 5271 Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley, 95066, or to the Hospice Caring Project, 6851 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003.
May 31, 2003
Evelyn Wilkens
No services will be held for Evelyn Wilkens, who died Thursday at Valley Convalescent Hospital in Watsonville. She was 92.
Mrs. Wilkens was born in King’s Norton, England, and was raised in Watsonville. She attended Watsonville High School and UC Berkeley. She graduated from San Jose State University in 1953.
She was a primary school teacher in the Alum Rock School District in San Jose, and in Rio Del Mar and Aptos schools. She was a member of the United Presbyterian Church and the California Retired Teachers Association.
She is survived by daughter Norma Linneman of Watsonville; son Gary Eaton of Watsonville; sisters Nora Holt of San Luis Obispo and Jeanne Zaches of Monterey; six grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and four nieces and nephews.
Husband Frank Wilkens died in 1972.
No services will be held at her request.
Contributions are preferred to Hospice Caring Project of Santa Cruz County, 6851 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003, or Valley Convalescent Hospital Employees’ Fund, 925 Freedom Blvd., Watsonville, CA 95076.
May 31, 2003
Mildred M. Etienne
Services will be private for Mildred M. Etienne, who died Oct. 19 in San Jose. She was 89.
Mrs. Etienne was born in New Orleans and had lived in San Jose for the past 15 years. She lived in Santa Cruz in the mid-1980s.
She is survived by grandchildren Rhonda Parrish, Sonja Etienne, Edward Etienne III and Karen Wilburn, all of San Jose; eight great-grandchildren; and many friends and extended family members.
Her husband, Edward Etienne, and son Edward Etienne II died before her.
Private services will be Friday at Santa Cruz Memorial Park.
November 1, 2003
Raye G. Chalmers
Services were private for Raye G. Chalmers, who died Oct. 24 at Driftwood Healthcare in Santa Cruz. She was 95.
She was born in Arkansas, and moved to Santa Cruz after she retired in 1970 as executive secretary to the vice president at Tulsa University in Oklahoma.
She was a member of the United Methodist Church in Santa Cruz, and enjoyed walking and spending time with her family.
She is survived by daughter and son-in-law Phyllis and Jack Cauwels of Mount Hermon; sister Corrine Craig of Lufkin, Texas; eight grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
She was buried in Oakwood Memorial Park in Santa Cruz. Oakwood Memorial Chapel is in charge of the arrangements.
Contributions are preferred to the Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center.
November 1, 2003
JoAnna Burnett
Services will be today for JoAnna Burnett, who died Oct. 24 at her Santa Cruz home. She was 74.
She was born in Fort Bidwell and had lived in Santa Cruz for 44 years. She previously lived in Michigan, where she graduated from Comstock High School in 1947.
She was a licensed vocational nurse, who worked most of her life at local nursing homes. She also worked for a short time as a seamstress at Bariteau’s Cleaners before retiring.
She enjoyed the roses in her garden and sewing for her family.
She is survived by sons Greg and Randy Wilson of Santa Cruz; daughter Audrey O’Neal-Smith of Santa Cruz; sister Phyllis Deck of Oregon; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Husband Robert Burnett died in 1985.
A service will be 1 p.m. today in the back yard of her home. Santa Cruz Memorial Park is in charge of the arrangements.
Contributions are preferred to the American Cancer Society or to Hospice Caring Project, 6851 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003.
November 1, 2003
Elva Brumfield
Services will be Saturday for Elva May Brumfield, who died Monday at her home in Aptos. She was 71.
Mrs. Brumfield was born in Woodlake. She was a descendant of the pioneer Jordan family, whichcame to California by wagon train in 1852 and settled in Tulare County.
Mrs. Brumfield met her husband, David, at an ice cream parlor in Fresno in 1951, and they were marriage the following year in Boulder City, Nev.
Mrs. Brumfield maintained the Santa Cruz County Appraisal Service with her husband in Watsonville for the past 20 years. She was a licensed real estate broker and member of the Watsonville Association of Realtors and a state licensed general real estate appraiser. She was an active member of the Soroptimist International of Watsonville and served as an officer and board member since 1991. She was dedicated to their scholarship program for women and their Women’s Opportunity Award, which offers financial assistance toward education.
She is survived by husband David Brumfield of Aptos; daughter Barbie Ann Lorentz of Malibu; sons James McNay Brumfield of Watsonville and David Henry Brumfield of Aptos; sister Mary Lou Rice of Riverbank; and many extended family members.
Her daughter Mary Ann Patricia Brumfield-Burnett died in 1988.
A memorial service will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Mehl’s Chapel.
Contributions are preferred to the Mary Ann Brumfield-Burnett Girls Scholarship in care of the Cabrillo College Scholarship Foundation.
November 5, 2003
Eleanor G. Frailich
Services were Sunday for Eleanor Gertrude Frailich, who died Oct. 28 at the Watsonville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She was 88.
Raised in Chicago, she moved to Los Angeles in the early 1950s with her husband and children, then moved to Santa Cruz in 1990 with her daughter Cindy and her family.
A homemaker her entire life, she also worked behind the counter in See’s Candy in Southern California. She enjoyed spending time with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, singing, dancing, playing volleyball, basketball and cooking.
She is survived by daughter Cindy Graham of Aptos; sons Fred Frailich of Long Beach and Leslie Frailich of Encino; sister Annabelle Singer of Los Angeles; 11 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
Her husband, Maurice Frailich, died in 1973. A daughter, Ila Cooke, died in 2000. Her grandson Michael Frailich died in 1972.
She was very close to her son-in-law, Tony Graham of Aptos, who presided over the funeral ceremony in Los Angeles.
Contributions are preferred to Heartland Hospice Services, 2511 Garden Road No. B-200, Monterey, CA 93940.
November 5, 2003
Robert C. Fortina
No services are planned for Robert Charles Fortina, who died Saturday in Santa Cruz after a brief illness. He was 76.
A native of Richmond, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. A Boulder Creek resident since 1962, he was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He worked for PG&E for more than 25 years, working on nuclear and conventional power plants throughout the state.
He was a member of the Santa Cruz Elks Club and the Knights of Columbus.
He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Joann Fortina of Boulder Creek; daughter Ann Fortina of Ben Lomond; son Franc Fortina of Soquel; stepsons Hutch Collier of Boulder Creek and Gordon Collier of Ben Lomond; and five grandchildren.
At his request, no services will be held.
Santa Cruz Memorial Park Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Contributions are preferred to the Santa Cruz Elks Lodge No. 824, 150 Jewell St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
November 5, 2003
