Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!May 31, 2004
Leroy Geving, a champion race car driver, retired trucker and long-time Petaluma resident, died May 23 at a Petaluma rehabilitation hospital. He was 73.
May 30, 2004
Vivian Powell
Vivian Alice Powell, a Sonoma County native who was long active in the poultry industry, died of liver disease Friday. She was 76.
Born in Penngrove on Dec. 6, 1927, to Ermalinda and Daniel Donati, Powell was immersed in farm life and developed a love of animals from her childhood. Her parents, immigrants from Switzerland, established a dairy farm that remained in the family for two generations.
Powell graduated from Petaluma High School and marriage Tony Powell in the early 1950s, according to her daughter, Kathy Wyatt of Petaluma.
In addition to raising six children, Powell worked for decades in various Petaluma-based poultry businesses. It was work she loved, according to her daughter.
"I think she went because of her co-workers," she said. "'The old chicks' is what she called her friends there."
The Powell household was known to take in animals of all sizes and types, including raccoons, rabbits, geese, goats and a variety of birds. The house even served as home to a monkey for a few years.
"My father was in the used-furniture business, and people would come in and trade things for furniture," said Powell's son, Ronald Powell of Petaluma. The monkey came home in a business transaction, he said.
But for the woman who loved dogs and almost all animals, the monkey proved too much, Wyatt said.
"It would get out of the cage and run along the ceiling along the pictures like it was climbing trees. My mom probably had enough of him," she said.
Powell was a gifted seamstress who made some of her children's clothes. Four years ago, she bought a guitar and began taking lessons to learn to play country music.
Powell retired briefly from Petaluma Poultry Producers about seven years ago, but she was lured back by friends. She worked up until she became ill in January, Wyatt said.
In addition to her son and daughter, Powell is survived by sons Michael Powell of Rohnert Park, Richard Powell of Santa Rosa and Kenneth Powell of Petaluma; daughter Darlene Powell of Rohnert Park; 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband; her brother, Milt Donati; and fiancee, Leo Poncia.
A funeral will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Parent-Sorensen Mortuary and Crematory, 850 Keokuk St., Petaluma.
Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday with a vigil service at 7 p.m. at the mortuary. Entombment will be at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Petaluma.
Contributions may be made to Hospice of Petaluma, 416 Payran St., Petaluma 94952.
Charles Chase, folklorist and poet
Charles Chase, a folklorist and poet whose eclectic Folk Music Center became a destination for musicians, literati and the curious alike, has died of a stroke. He was 89.
Chase died May 21 at the Mountain View Alzheimer's Center, his daughter, Ellen Chase, said.
His fascination with musical instruments from around the globe led him to open the Claremont center nearly a half-century ago.
Over time it came to include a music store, repair shop, performance stage and school, as well as a museum that contained several hundred antique instruments.
Chase allowed customers to play all the instruments in the center: antique Tibetan temple horns, American banjos, Polynesian conch shells and African tongue drums as well as new guitars and drums.
A kindred spirit of folk music legends Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger, Chase led a weekly program for schoolchildren for more than 20 years, demonstrating how to play the instruments.
Chase's interest in music was matched by a commitment to social causes and he spent much of his adult life fighting for issues dear to his heart -- the environment and the rights of underdogs.
Chase is survived by his wife and four children, along with 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Norman Griner, graphic designer
Norman Griner, a graphics designer who made the record album cover a canvas for metaphor and realism and later brought his skills to bear on quirky and memorable print advertisements and TV commercials, died in Carmel, N.Y., on April 17. He was 71.
The cause was pneumonia after complications from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1990, his wife, Jane, said last week.
Griner's album covers rendered stories about musicians and their works through personalized settings and highly intricate props.
In 1968 he won a Grammy for the cover art on the Thelonious Monk album "Underground," one of the most talked-about jazz album covers of all time.
Based on Griner's own photographs and unrelated to the music as such, it portrayed Monk as an armed World War II partisan, seated at the piano in a room cluttered with detonators, grenades, wine bottles and even a cow, with a Nazi officer tied to a chair in the background.
Narrative detail was the hallmark of Griner's work, said John Berg, who hired him to produce several album covers for Columbia Records in the 1960s.
In addition to his wife, of Patterson, N.Y., Griner is survived by two daughters, Julia Griner of Jersey City, N.J., and Joanna Cawley of New York City; a sister, Evelyn Zainfeld of North Massapequa, N.Y.; and a grandson.
April 21, 2004
Daryl Madson
Daryl Dean Madson Sr., a longtime Safeway employee, dedicated deliverer of The Press Democrat and owner of an antiques business, died Saturday at his home in Sebastopol.
Madson, 67, succumbed to the effects of diabetes.
A sports enthusiast who had a short career in Triple A baseball, Madson showed great attention to overseeing the produce section at the Safeway store in Sebastopol. He worked 35 years for the company before retiring.
Together with his wife, Wanda Sue Madson, he opened Seagull Antiques in the town of Bodega in 1991. The couple, marriage 46 years, delivered The Press Democrat for 29 years.
"My dad always worked hard," said his daughter, Susan Madson of Sebastopol. "He taught all of us that. If you're going to do a job, do it right."
She described her father as a kind, soft-spoken man who proved a good listener to the many customers that came from far and near to the antique store.
Born in Prosser, Wash., Madson grew up in Tomales. He graduated in 1954 from Tomales High School, then attended Santa Rosa Junior College. The following year the St. Louis Cardinals signed him as a pitcher for their Triple A farm team, but his sports career ended soon thereafter when he broke his collarbone in an automobile accident.
In 1956 he started working as a checker for Safeway. It was there he met his future wife. The family recalls how she used to go from high school to the store at lunch each day and purchase an apple or orange so that she could go through his checkout line.
Madson enjoyed all kinds of sports but especially football and for several years he helped his grandson, Daryl Madson III, coach football at Brook Haven Middle School. He also enjoyed country music, playing cards with family and friends and horse racing.
"Every year we spent his birthday at the race track," his daughter recalled.
Along with his wife and daughter, survivors include two sons, Daryl Madson Jr. and Ricky Madson, both of Sebastopol; his mother, Wanda J. Madson of Santa Rosa; a brother, Roy R. Madson of Santa Rosa; and five grandchildren.
A funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Pleasant Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today.
The family prefers memorial contributions to the American Diabetes Association.
Jacquelyn Shone
Jacquelyn Anne Shone, a teacher, homemaker and avid sports fan, battled diabetes for 20 years, waging a courageous fight against the disease until her death Sunday at a Petaluma care facility. She was 70.
Even after losing both her legs and eyesight to diabetes, Shone remained a strong, guiding force in her family and a loyal sports fan, attending 49ers and Giants games.
Known as Jackie to family and friends, her courage was an inspiration to all who knew her.
"Jackie kept fighting until she couldn't fight anymore. She was very strong," said her husband, Richard R. "Dick" Shone of Petaluma.
Shone was born Jacquelyn Anne Garloff on Jan. 8, 1934 in Sebastopol, the daughter of Ernest "Bear" Garloff and Lois Barnett Garloff, who survive her. As a member of the pioneer Barnett and Garloff families, Shone had deep roots in Sonoma County and ties to many people throughout the county.
Raised in the Sebastopol community of Cunningham, she attended the old Mount Vernon elementary school, now the School Bell Antiques store, graduating in 1947. She was a 1955 graduate of Analy High School. She earned an associate of arts degree from Santa Rosa Junior College in 1953 and graduated from San Jose State University in 1955.
She earned a teaching degree and taught school for a time before she became a mother, then devoted her time to raising her four children and running the family home. She never missed one of her children's sports events, faithfully cheering on the sidelines.
After her children were raised, Shone worked as a pre-school teacher in Petaluma for 12 years, retiring in 1962.
Dick and Jackie Shone were marriage on Nov. 11, 1955. The couple had known each other since they were children. Their families were friends and attended many of the same dances and social functions as residents of rural Sebastopol.
"Jackie was just a part of my life all of my life," said Dick Shone.
For 10 years the Shones lived on Dick Shone's family's poultry ranch on Irwin Lane, between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. In 1965 they moved to Petaluma where they've made their home for nearly 40 years.
She was a member of the P.E.O Chapter A.J. of Sebastopol and Beta Sigma Phi.
In addition to her husband and parents, Shone is survived by her daughter, Renee Hart of Petaluma; by her sons, Doug Shone of Santa Rosa, Rick Shone of Rohnert Park and Mark Shone of Walnut Creek; her brother, Ernest Garloff of Sebastopol and by six grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Parent-Sorensen Mortuary & Crematory in Petaluma. Private Burial will be at Cypress Hill Memorial Park.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the Diabetes Society of Sonoma County, 2777 Cleveland Ave., Room 101, Santa Rosa, 95403 or the Hospital Chaplaincy Services, P.O. Box 1948, Santa Rosa, 95402-1948.
Norris McWhirter, Guinness record book founder
Norris McWhirter, one of the founders of Guinness World Records, the ubiquitous reference work that keeps track of superlatives both serious and frivolous, from sports records and tall buildings to the oldest licensed driver (104) and the farthest a person has walked with a milk bottle balanced on his head (80.96 miles), died Tuesday at his home in Wiltshire in southern England.
He was 78.
He had suffered a heart attack after playing tennis on Monday evening, a family spokesman told the Associated Press.
McWhirter started the publication, long known as the Guinness Book of Records, with his twin brother, Ross, in 1954; the first edition appeared the next year. Together they discovered and then printed that the record mother of twins was a Russian woman who gave birth to 16 sets of twins from 1725 to 1765, not to mention seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets.
Annual editions of their multifarious mix of matchlessness have surpassed 100 million in sales, making it the world's best-selling copyrighted book, at least according to itself. (The Bible, the Quran and Mao's "little red book" -- all larger sellers -- are not copyrighted.) Though the twins once personally helped cram 70 people into a compact car, other records were sent in from around the world and all received scrupulous inspection before acceptance. Once, when McWhirter was accosted by a machete-wielding cane-cutter, who claimed a record for cutting cane, he calmly requested documentation.
Except for life-threatening stunts, virtually any activity became fair game for setting a record. After all, new and updated categories meant new editions for people to buy.
In 2003, a columnist in The Evening Standard, a London newspaper, called the record book "The Guinness Book of Morons Doing Pointless Things to Make Ross and Norris McWhirter Even Richer."
Ross was murdered in 1975 after offering a reward of 50,000 pounds for information leading to the arrest of Irish Republican Army bombers. He and Norris were outspoken in their conservative views on many political and social issues, with Norris in recent years becoming a leader of the opposition to Britain's forging closer ties with Europe.
Norris continued to appear on a British Broadcasting Corp. television show on which he and his brother had starred, "Record Breakers." He answered any question the audience chose to ask from memory.
McWhirter is survived by his wife, Tessa, a daughter, Jane, and a son, Alasdair.
He went on to other writing assignments after retiring as editor of Guinness Records in 1986, and as advisory editor in 1996. One project was "Norris McWhirter's Book of Millennium Records" (Virgin, 1999), which traced the evolution of world records from prehistory.
April 7, 2004
Larry Fostmeier
Community leader Larry Fostmeier, a Sonoma County contractor who built more than 250 schools, banks and supermarkets during his 56 years as owner of Fostmeier Construction, died Saturday at a Santa Rosa hospital following a brief illness. He was 81.
The prominent businessman, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis two weeks ago, died of complications from pneumonia, according to family members. Until his illness, Fostmeier, known for his imposing stature, athletic prowess and adventurous spirit, was flying his single-engine Bellanca plane, swimming daily laps and snow skiing.
"In hearing of my father's death, people invariably remember him as an articulate, soft-spoken gentleman, a gentle giant of a man," said daughter Gayle Carston of Santa Rosa.
A native of St. Paul, Minn., Fostmeier came to Sonoma County as a young man, quickly establishing himself in business and social circles.
For more than 50 years, Fostmeier and his late wife, Rochelle Fostmeier, were pillars of the county's power and social structure. They were known as gracious hosts, entertaining friends, political leaders and business associates in their showplace home on McDonald Avenue.
"Looking at the party pictures, my parents were such a handsome couple. My father loved his work in construction, and his success in business allowed Mom to be the great volunteer, hostess and social person she was," said Carston.
Rochelle Fostmeier died last April.
During World War II, Fostmeier served as a captain in the 8th Air Force, 385th Bomber Group. He spent his 21st birthday flying a bombing run over Berlin, one of 27 missions he flew over German-occupied territory during the war.
A love of planes and aviation marked Fostmeier's life. He owned a private plane for decades, flying daily when the weather was good. He also was a member of the World War II Pilot's Group, regularly joining other pilots for flights to Lakeport, Napa or Woodland for lunch.
"My father loved flying. He said when he was in the air, soaring over houses and highways, it put everything in perspective. Even the big problems would be diminished. Flying was his sanity," Carston said.
Following service in the Army Air Corps during the war, Fostmeier got into the building trade, eventually starting his own firm, Fostmeier Construction, which for decades was one of the leading general contracting companies in Sonoma County. He built many schools, including Hidden Valley and Albert Biella schools in Santa Rosa, and the Safeway stores in Guerneville, Novato and Sonoma.
One of the great moments in Fostmeier's life occurred in 1993 when he again flew the B-17 bomber that he had piloted during the war. The venerable Flying Fortress was making the rounds as part of a 50th anniversary celebration. Fostmeier flew the bomber from Napa to Santa Rosa and then on to Concord.
"It had been 50 years since he had flown the B-17, but he said it was just like riding a bicycle," his daughter said.
Fostmeier was a member of the Sonoma County Airport Commission, a position he had held since 1956. With his wife, he was active in the Burbank Center for the Arts, Sonoma State University, the Boy Scouts and the Santa Rosa Symphony.
In addition to his daughter, Fostmeier is survived by his stepdaughter, Yvonne Pettis of Santa Rosa; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
A service celebrating his life will take place April 14 at 4 p.m., at Daniels Chapel of the Roses. Private inurnment is at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the Pacific Coast Air Museum, 2330 Airport Blvd., Santa Rosa 95403, or the Rochelle Fostmeier Scholarship, Sonoma State University Office of Development, 1801 East Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park 94928.
James Lucas
James Lucas, co-owner of the elegant Lucas Wharf restaurant in Bodega Bay, died Saturday in his sleep at his Santa Rosa home. He was 53.
He had suffered from several medical conditions, and the cause of death was not immediately known, said his daughter, Carrie Lucas of Sebastopol.
He will be remembered for his great sense of humor, his love of storytelling, and the enjoyment he took in entertaining people and making them laugh, Carrie Lucas said.
"We will all miss him greatly," she said.
Lucas was born in San Francisco, but came to Santa Rosa with his parents when he was 2 years old. He attended St. Rose School and graduated from Montgomery High School in 1968. He marriage his high school sweetheart, Peggy Gehrke, in 1969.
After graduation, he drove a truck for Standard Oil, delivering fuel to farmers and then worked in construction for his father-in-law, Wes Gehrke, while waiting to join his father and brother in the commercial fishing business.
His father, Walter Lucas, had commissioned construction of a bigger boat, the Silver Seas, and when it was ready, James Lucas joined his father and his brother, Gary Lucas, on the sea.
They trawled for bottom fish and shrimp, and were so successful they were jokingly called the "Shrimp Kings," Peggy Lucas said.
With help from their father, James and Gary Lucas purchased the waterfront property where Lucas Wharf now stands in 1976. They added a deli and fish market, where their wives worked, while the brothers continued to fish.
The deli became popular as the tourist trade to Bodega Bay increased, and the brothers added the Lucas Wharf Restaurant and Bar, begun in 1979 and completed in 1984.
James and Gary Lucas ran the restaurant after their father died, and James and his wife, Peggy Lucas, bought out Gary in 1993.
Peggy Lucas will continue to operate the restaurant, she said.
Lucas enjoyed fishing, hunting, watersports, cooking and shopping. At the time of his death, he was restoring a 1939 Ford panel truck, Carrie Lucas said.
"He liked anything to do with water. He tried everything, and as soon as he conquered that sport, he'd find something else to try," Peggy Lucas said.
He also served for a time on the Salmon Council, a marketing and advisory group.
Lucas is survived by his wife and daughter, both of Sebastopol; a son, Shane Lucas of Santa Rosa; brothers Robert Lucas of Redding and Gary Lucas of Lake Almador; and one grandson.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Bodega Harbour Yacht Club at Bodega Bay. The family suggests donations to the Diabetes Society of Sonoma County, 2777 Cleveland Ave., Santa Rosa 95403.
Marjorie Hinckley
SALT LAKE CITY -- Marjorie Pay Hinckley, wife of the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died Tuesday after falling ill in January while on an overseas trip. She was 92.
Marjorie Hinckley died about 5 p.m. at her home, surrounded by her husband and other family members, church spokesman Dale Bills said. He attributed her death to "causes incident to age."
The Hinckleys had been marriage 67 years. They had five children and 25 grandchildren.
The couple attended the dedication of a Mormon temple in West Africa in January. Marjorie Hinckley fell ill on the return trip to Salt Lake City.
Church President Gordon Hinckley, 93, disclosed his wife's illness Sunday at the church's general conference. It was the first such conference she had missed in 46 years.
"I guess the clock is winding down, and we do not know how to rewind it," Hinckley said. "It is a somber time for me."
"We were on our way home, and she collapsed with weariness," he said. "She's had a difficult time ever since."
Marjorie Hinckley was born in Nephi to Phillip LeRoy and Georgetta Paxman Pay. She graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City in 1929 and began working for Owens Illinois Glass Co. as a secretary.
"The family that I grew up in consisted of one brother and four sisters and a mother and father who were absolutely devoted to the church," Marjorie Hinckley told Brigham Young Magazine in 1996.
"It was a prayerful home. We prayed about everything, and I mean everything -- that we wouldn't burn the soup."
"The really wonderful thing about my childhood was that the stake president lived across the street from us, and his son was Gordon B. Hinckley. So I was aware of him. By the time I got to high school, I knew there were two sexes, and I noticed him," she told the magazine.
