Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Mildred Frances Stockton Roberts
Mildred Frances Stockton Roberts died March 27, 2003, at her Davis home in the University Retirement Community, where she and her husband, Donald G. Roberts, had lived for more than two years. She was 87.
Born on March 19, 1916, to Superior Court Judge Francis Warren Stockton and Frances Welty Herndon Stockton, her family was California pioneers.
She attended Kern County schools in Poso Flat, Buttonwillow and Oildale, graduating from Kern County Union High School in 1933 and Bakersfield Junior College in 1935. She received her bachelor's in political science with a minor in household arts from UC Berkeley in 1937 and was marriage May 19, 1938, in the Home Room of Berkeley's International House.
She is survived by her beloved husband and companion of 65 years, Donald G. Roberts; her son, Warren G. Roberts, of Davis; daughters, Linda F. Browning, of Arizona, and Marisa R. Houtchens, of Oregon; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, nine nieces, three nephews, more than a dozen grandnieces and grandnephews and hundreds of California cousins.
She was most known for her truly sweet disposition and her great love for her family, always providing them and friends with generous and warm support, kindness and gentle humor, understanding acceptance, loyalty and deep affection. Roberts generously shared her gentle warmth, her many talents and knowledge, inspiring and enriching lives. Through her life, she gave the best example of how to live, how to love and how to bravely and gently approach the end of life. She was such a sweet lady.
Roberts was also an artist, working with ceramics, wood cuts, weaving, crocheting, painting, sewing, upholstery and needlepoint. A collection of some of her creations was recently on display at the University Retirement Community's library. During her lifetime she designed and supervised the construction of several of her family's homes in Millbrae, Carmel Valley, Pauma Valley and Flagstaff, Ariz., and that of her parents in Granite Station.
From her own knowledge and energy, her home gardens were always beautifully designed, planted and maintained. Her understanding of garden plants and wildflowers was extraordinary and she graciously shared this knowledge and starts from her garden to all who were interested.
In her youth, Roberts enjoyed playing basketball, debating on a forensics team, horseback riding and world travel. She enjoyed singing, sharing her sweet voice with her church choir and the Carmel Bach Fesitval Chorus. She was an excellent raconteur. Her stories gracefully showed her rich life experiences and kindly sense of humor.
During her lifetime, she was an active member of the American Association of University Women, League of Women Voters, parent and teacher associations and Campfire Girls. She was a leader in Cub Scouts, Brownies and Girl Scouts, both a Democrat and a Republican and an airline pilot. True to her pioneer heritage, she was always a skillful navigator on land, sea and in the air.
She was preceded in death by her three brothers, Denton, William and John Stockton, all of Kern County.
By her request, there will be no formal funeral or memorial service. Donations in her memory may be made to Yolo Hospice, P.O. Box 1014, Davis, CA, 95617, and to the UC Davis Arboretum, One Shields Avenue, UCD, Davis, CA, 95616.
Robert W. Allard
Robert "Bob" W. Allard died March 25, 2003, in Davis. He was born Sept. 3, 1919, to Alma Roose Allard and Glenn Allard, in the San Fernando Valley, where he grew up.
When he was 10 years old, he decided he wanted to be a plant breeder. To that end, he developed a hands-on love of growing plants and graduated from the College of Agriculture at UC Davis. He then earned his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. It was there that he met and marriage Ann Catherine Wilson, who was his wife of 59 years. After World War II, he started his academic career at UCD, where he served until his retirement.
Bob and Ann have five children who all grew up in Davis. The couple also has seven grandchildren. His family benefited greatly from the rich and intellectually stimulating friendship of his scientific associates and his worldwide travel, which included three sabbaticals, frequent international lecturing and visits to the National Academy of Sciences. The couple also appreciates their deep connection to Davis and the Davis schools.
He is survived by his wife Ann Allard, of Davis; his brother Leland Allard, of Modesto; and his daughters Susan Allard, of Davis, Jane Allard Allen, of Petaluma, Gillian Allard, of Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Stacie Allard, of Flexweiler, Luxembourg. His grandchildren are Gabriel and Meryl Craig of Davis, Thomas and Jackson Allen of Petaluma, Emma Kirchner, of Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Ella and Lukas Tikka, of Luxembourg.
He was one of those singular people who can be said to have founded a scientific discipline, in his case, the field of plant population genetics. He was a world figure in plant genetics, whose contributions ranged from the genetic dissection of complex traits to ecological genetics to crop breeding to mathematical and statistical theory in genetics.
Perhaps his most important work was embodied in a long series of articles on the genetics of predominantly self-fertilizing plants. This comprehensive series of articles used all the tools then available to science to investigate the impact of extreme inbreeding on the genetic architecture of plant populations. Allard not only focused on the genetics of plant populations, but was keenly aware of their ecological setting and led efforts to integrate genetics with ecology in the 1960s and '70s.
In addition to his contributions in basic research, Allard was a master of applied genetics. He was one of the leading plant breeders of his generation and he wrote the major textbook on plant breeding, which was widely adopted in the U.S. and abroad. He was at ease in the two worlds of basic and applied science and he contributed importantly to developing and then applying new knowledge for the improvement of agriculture.
Allard's contributions to his science spanned more than 50 years, beginning before World War II and continuing long after his retirement in 1986. He was a teacher and mentor of monumental proportions, having trained 56 doctorate students and more than 100 masters students over his career. His students have gone on to influence the sciences of crop breeding, population genetics and molecular evolution and many have assumed leadership positions in industry, academics and government.
He also contributed greatly to his university by leading in the development of genetics at UCD and by chairing a department that was widely viewed as one of the world's leading genetics departments during his tenure. He also served as president of several scientific societies, including the Genetics Society of America, the American Genetic Association and the American Society of Naturalists.
Allard's contributions to his science and to his university earned many honors over the years. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was a recipient of both the DeKalb-Phizer Distinguished Career Award and the Crop Science Award by the Crop Science Society of America. He was honored as the Nelsson Ehle Lecturer of the Mendelian Society of Sweden and as the Wilhelmine Key lecturer of the American Genetic Association. He was also named Faculty Research Lecturer at UCD and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Helsinki in Finland and the University of Leon in Spain.
A memorial service will begin at 2 p.m. on July 6 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road. There will be a reception following the service.
The family has established a Bob Allard Memorial Web site at: groups.yahoo.com/group/boballardmemorial/ and invites people to view and contribute if they wish.
The family requests that contributions to Memory House, 274 Reed Drive, Davis, CA, 95616, be made in lieu of flowers. That is where he lived and received loving care during his last year. Contributions may also be made to the Unitarian Universalist Church Fund for the Campus Ministry.
Nancy T. Jones
A memorial service and celebration of life honoring longtime Davis resident Nancy Tirey Jones will begin at 2 p.m. Monday at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin, 640 Hawthorn Lane in Davis.
Nancy Jones, 77, was born on July 10, 1925, in Waco, Texas. She died on March 27, 2003, in Davis. She attended Randolf Macon College in West Virginia and marriage John H. Jones in 1942 when she was 17.
The couple moved to Davis in 1952 where her husband joined the medical practice of Cooper and McKinney. He founded the Davis Free Clinic, now known as the Davis Community Clinic, in 1972. The couple raised three children.
She worked for some years at the UC Davis office of campus events and information.
"We used the money to travel," she said in an interview several years ago. "We had some wonderful trips in the last 10 years or so of his life." She was predeceased by her husband in 1991. The new clinic was dedicated to him at its opening in 1997.
She was loved and respected by many people for her active involvement in the Al-Anon Family Groups. Through the years, she sponsored many people and remained active in the program to the end of her life. She was appreciated and sought after for her warmth, wisdom, humor and sense of spiritual peace.
"She was a loving and caring person and very spiritual," said longtime friend Dottie Paige. "Her death is a great loss to all of her friends and family."
She is survived by three children: Caroline Hudson of Los Angeles, John Culver Jones of Petaluma, and Kenneth Jones of Chicago. Additional survivors include four grandchildren: Skylar Hudson, Cullen and Megan Jones, and Autumn Jones.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be sent to the Davis Community Clinic, 2040 Sutter Place, Davis 95616.
Frances V. Gold
Frances Vernon Gold died March 24, 2003, in Davis. Born on Sept. 30, 1909, in Eldon, Mo., she was 93 years old.
She moved into Covell Gardens in Davis in 1994 and to the University Retirement Community in April 2000.
She is survived by a brother, Elwin A. Vernon of Anacortes, Wash.; a son, Earl Allen Gold of Orangevale; and a daughter, Diana G. Myles of Davis. Six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren also survive her.
A memorial service will begin at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the University Retirement Community, 1515 Shasta Drive. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Cerebral Palsy Fund, St. Louis Children's Hospital, One Children's Place, St. Louis, MO 63110.
Natalie Janitzky
Natalie von Oettingen Janitzky died in her home on March 29, 2003, at age 61 after a courageous struggle with cancer.
She born on Oct. 6, 1941, in Kiev, Ukraine, and moved with her family to Davis in 1960. She graduated from UC Davis with a degree in art history and worked for many years at the UC Davis Shields Library, retiring in 2001.
She had a keen interest and talent in all aspects of needlework and was particularly accomplished in embroidering, knitting and crocheting.
She is survived by her husband of 35 years, Peter Janitzky of Davis; two sons, Andre Janitzky of Davis and Nicolai Janitzky of Connecticut; two brothers, Otto von Oettingen of West Sacramento and Nick Tripolski and family of San Bruno; and a sister, Agnes Sawyer of Davis.
A funeral begins at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Davis Funeral Chapel.
Donald F. Regan
Donald Francis Regan of Davis died on March 31, 2003, at Kaiser Hospital in South Sacramento, after suffering a stroke.
Born in San Francisco on Oct. 12, 1932, to Nora and Patrick Regan, he was 70.
He lived in San Francisco for the majority of his life, moving to Davis in the fall of 1998.
In 1956, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics from University of San Francisco.
He marriage Gloria Nichols on June 7, 1958, and they raised four children.
For 35 years, he worked for Metropolitan Life in San Francisco, retiring in 1990 as public affairs director.
He was a member of St. James Catholic Church and its chapter of the Knights of Columbus. He also enjoyed visiting his family's cabin in Mt. Hood, Ore. His woodworking hobby kept him busy building things for his grandchildren and for his house and garden.
He loved his family and especially enjoyed spending time with his three grandchildren. He liked Davis' relaxed atmosphere and never regretted making the move.
He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Gloria Regan; daughters, Donna Regan of New York City, Karen Sprague and her husband Robert of Davis, and Katie Regan of Davis; son, Daniel Regan and his wife Gail of Rhododendron, Ore.; brother, Patrick Regan and his wife Ann of Wichita, Kan.; and grandchildren, Alex, Max and Hunter Sprague of Davis.
Viewing will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Davis Funeral Chapel, 116 D St., Davis. The rosary will be said there at 7 p.m. Thursday
A funeral Mass will begin at 1 p.m. Friday at St. James, with Burial to follow at the Davis Cemetery.
Benjamin W. White
Benjamin Ward White, 82, died suddenly March 28, 2003, at his home in Davis.
Born on March 22, 1921, and raised in New York and Maryland, he graduated from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan where he met his late wife Martha. He worked at MIT in the 1950s and '60s, and then moved with his family to Tiburon in 1967. He spent the remainder of his career as a psychology professor at San Francisco State University.
Since February of 2000, he had been living at the University Retirement Community in Davis.
He will be remembered for his intelligence, his kindness and compassion, as well as his dry sense of humor. He was an active member of the Society of Friends, and involved with several volunteer groups.
He is survived by his son, Chris White; his daughter, Stacey White; his daughter-in-law, Diane Heininger; his daughter-in-law, Kirsten Street; and his best friend Dorsey Tweedie. He touched many lives, and his family and friends will miss him very much.
A memorial service will begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the University Retirement Community's auditorium, 1515 Shasta Drive.
Michael Flaherty
Michael Flaherty, a recent resident of Winters, died on March 29, 2002, at his home. He was 51.
He was born on June 18, 1950, in San Francisco.
A longtime resident of Davis, he graduated from UC Davis' School of Law in 1981. He had practiced law in Sacramento since 1982.
He is loved and will be missed by his wife, Diane Flaherty of Winters; his children, Bree Flaherty of Davis, Matt Flaherty of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Jeremy Flaherty of Southern California; his mother, Luella Flaherty of the Bay Area; his sister, Anne-Marie Flaherty of Sacramento; and his brothers, John and Jim Flaherty.
A memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. James Catholic Church, 200 W. 14th St., Davis.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 1329 Howe Ave., Suite 110, Sacramento, CA 95825.
Dorathea Goodale
Dorathea Goodale died in Bellingham, Wash., on April 2, 2003. Known as Dodie to her friends and family, she was 88 years old.
She was born on Feb. 27, 1915. After graduating from high school in Woodland as Dodie Nicolson, she went to work for PG&E and then the plant pathology department at UC Davis, where she met Paul Knowles, who became her loving husband for 47 years.
Knowles' work as an agronomist and university professor took them throughout the world until his retirement in 1982 when they moved to Birch Bay, Wash.
Following his death in 1990, she marriage her second husband, George Goodale, in 1992 with whom she had almost 10 lovely years full of travel, winters in Sun City West, Ariz., and springs and summers in Birch Bay, Wash.
Self-educated through travel, prolific reading, an insatiable curiosity and an appetite for new experiences, she is remembered as a kind, trusting, generous woman with a rare capacity for unconditional love.
She is survived by a brother, Malcolm "Nic" Nicolson and his wife Margaret; son, Douglas Knowles and his wife Denise; four grandchildren, Alexandra, Joshua, Jessica and Ian Knowles; as well as many other Knowles, Nicolson and Goodale relatives, in-laws and friends the world over.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at Greenacres Funeral Home, 5700 Northwest Road in Ferndale, Wash., followed by a gathering at her home at 5703 Nakat Way, Birch Bay Village, Blaine, Wash. Friends and relatives are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either the American Cancer Society or the Canadian Cancer Society.
William G. Smith
William George Smith died peacefully at the age of 83 on March 25, 2003. He was surrounded by his family. Born to Genevieve and George Smith on Jan. 8, 1920, he spent his childhood and early adult years in New Jersey.
After serving in the U.S. Army, he headed for California in 1944 to propose to the one and only love of his life, Rose. They began their 58-year marriage on Jan. 7, 1945, and raised their two children, Bill Jr. and Ginger, in San Jose.
Following a career with Bank of America, he moved to Davis with Rose to be near their daughter's family. They spent 21 years in retirement here, truly enjoying the simple, everyday pleasures of life together, sharing their love and laughter generously with their family and friends.
He was always the gentleman, loving, kind, devoted and patient. His gentle spirit will never be forgotten by all those who knew and loved him.
He is survived by his wife, Rose; son, Bill Jr. and his wife Gerry Brosius of Monterey; daughter, Ginger Winters and her husband Don of Davis; two granddaughters, Becky and Jill; and his brother, David and his wife Mary of Bellevue, Wash.
Catherine Butler
Longtime Davis resident Catherine Ann Butler died April 4, 2003. Born on Oct. 10, 1931, she was 71 years old.
Butler moved from Davis to Gold River with her late husband, Lee, in the late 1980s. Before that, he operated Butler Landscape and Nursery here for some three decades before moving his contracting business to Sacramento.
Catherine Butler was born in South Bend, Ind., in Oct. 10, 1931. She earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Dayton.
A proud homemaker, her life's work was her family. She kept busy shuttling her sons and daughters to and from their many sporting events and regularly volunteering at their schools. She was also active at St. James Catholic Church. Later, she became an honorary member of the Gold River Villagers.
She is survived by her sons, Patrick, Daniel and Michael Butler of Gold River; daughters, Susan Holden and Mary Buckley, both of Rancho Cordova, and Linda Butler of Sacramento; and grandchildren Nick, Blake and Katie Butler of Sacramento, Chris Holden of Orangevale, Ryan and Robyn Butler of Gold River, and Kyle Buckley of Rancho Cordova.
Friends are invited for visitation Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Price Funeral Chapel, 6335 Sunrise Blvd., in Sacramento and to attend a Rosary at 7 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. Mel's Catholic Church, 4745 Pennsylvania Ave., in Fair Oaks, with Interment in the Davis Cemetery.
Catherine A. Brun
Catherine Ann Brun, also known as Kit to her friends and family, died March 20, 2003, at Woodland Memorial Hospital. Born on Aug. 11, 1930, in Oakland to Anthony and Aileen Vager of San Leandro, she was 72 years old.
She attended UC Berkeley and was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority. She was a licensed real estate broker in the area for 20 years and lived in Davis for more than 39 years.
While residing in Davis, she was a member of the Davis Chamber of Commerce, Friends of the Davis Public Library and the Republican Party. She was also involved in several community theater groups.
She will be remembered for her kindness and compassion as well as her dry sense of humor. She had many enjoyments in her life, especially her family and friends.
She is survived by her daughters, Theresa Echeverria, Tona Smith and Elizabeth Brun; sons, Nicholas Brun and Charles Brun; and her grandchildren, Christopher Smith, Jackson Folsom, Katherine Kami-Brun, Enrique Echeverria and Rose Echeverria.
She is also survived by her sister-in-law Helen Vager and nieces Ellen Barnes and Toni Vager.
A private service was held at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the St. Jude Foundation or the Friends of the Davis Public Library.
