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Anne Reith Furnas
Anne Reith Furnas died in her Piedmont home Tuesday, March 12, 2002, at age 95.
Born Oct. 8, 1906, a native of Woodland, Mrs. Furnas was the daughter of the late Leila Browning Reith and John Reith Jr. She graduated from UC Berkeley School of Nursing and served for many years as a school nurse in Berkeley. She was the niece of Miss Anne Reith, a Woodland school teacher. In her later years, she was assisted by China Perkins of Emeryville.
Her brothers and sisters were Lindley Reith, John Reith III, Flora Reith Hughson, Alice Reith Dingle, Robert Reith, Leland Reith, Florence Merritt Stephens, and Gladys Merritt Younger.
Mrs. Furnas was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Furnas.
She will be buried
next to her husband in Golden Gate National Cemetery, Colma.
FURNISS
Mary Joan Furniss
Mary Joan Furniss died Aug. 6, 2004, in her Davis home at age 84.
She was born Jan. 19, 1920, in Seffner, Fla., to George R. and Johnnielee Jacoby. In 1929, she moved to Westerville, Ohio, and attended public school and Ohio State University.
As recently as 2002, Furniss was still attending monthly luncheons with her elementary school classmates. She met her husband, Henry, at the First Presbyterian Church of Westerville where he was her brother's Sunday school teacher and she remained a lifetime member of that same congregation. The couple were marriage in 1945 and had two daughters, Mary and Nancy.
Furniss was a homemaker all her adult life and resided in the same modest home in Westerville for 55 years. She was an avid reader and continued her pastime even after her eyesight failed and she began using the talking books service of the National Library for the Blind. She loved to travel and made three trips to Europe where she was able to use the French and German she had learned through college and private study. Her love of adventure continued into her later years when she experienced her first tent camping trip at age 79 at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. After moving to Davis in 2002, Furniss enjoyed the friendships she made with volunteers of the Meals on Wheels program.
She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Mary Kathleen and Greg Sabatino of Los Angeles; daughter and son-in-law Nancy Ann and Roger Ewers of Davis; grandchildren Kathleen Anne Prior of Los Angeles, Adria Rosendale of San Francisco, John and Jia-min Rosendale of Davis, Ann Rosendale of Stockton, Michael Rosendale of Arcata, Cindy Rosendale of Davis, Charles and Kristen Ewers of Carmichael, Scott Ewers of Vacaville, Eric Ewers of San Diego and Kurt Ewers of Davis; and great-grandchildren Lela and Ethan Rosendale of Davis.
A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church, 38141 Russell Blvd., Davis. Donations in her memory may be made to the Yolo County Meals on Wheels program.
FURTADO
John Francis Furtado
John Francis Furtado died June 5, 2004, at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento. He was 68.
Born Sept. 9, 1935, in Willows, he was a 35-year resident of Yolo County.
He owned and operated Do-Co Welding in Esparto since 1977, was a member of the Woodland Elks Lodge and co-founded Oyster Boys Barbequed Oysters. He was a devout Catholic.
He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Judy Furtado, and his grandchildren Michael and Victoria Furtado of Woodland.
Mass will begin at 10 a.m. Friday at Holy Rosary Church, 301 Walnut St., Woodland. Interment will follow at Capay Cemetery outside Esparto. Arrangements are being made by McNary's Chapel.
ANDERSON
Ruth Edlefsen Anderson
Ruth Edlefsen Anderson, 89, died Feb. 13, 2006, following a stroke. A resident of the University Retirement Community since 2000, she will be missed as a sister, mother, grandmother, aunt, teacher, colleague, adviser and friend.
Her sense of humor and dazzling smile were intact through her last week of life, during which her three daughters and their children were able to say goodbye in one final visit. As was her nature, she died in a peaceful, dignified manner.
A champion of women's rights, she was perhaps best known as the dean of women at UC Davis for 20 years. She was a feminist and an activist from the beginning, teaching her own children and undergraduate students to consider all sides of a situation and to support the rights of those less fortunate.
During the early 1970s, she helped found the original Women's Center on campus (now the Women's Resources and Research Center), as well as the Network for Graduate and Faculty Women. During her tenure as dean, she was a force behind the implementation of Title IX at UC Davis, the federal law prohibiting discrimination against female athletes. She was a source of inspiration, guidance and assistance to countless women students and contributed to the campus' awareness and sensitivity in regard to women's issues.
Born to Niels Edlef Edlefsen and Carrie Brown Edlefsen in Logan, Utah, on Oct. 11, 1916, she attended Davis High School briefly and graduated from high school in Logan, Utah. She attended UC Berkeley, where she received her bachelor's degree in education. In a lecture she gave in 1983 titled, “Anything is Possible, ” she said she had no concrete ideas about what to do after graduating.
“I had a dream about being a Mata Hari, or at least doing something I'd not tried. I was searching for something elusive, ” she remembered. Fate stepped in when her father was offered a job at MIT in the physics department. It was there that this liberal art major became interested in the development of sonar and she realized there are always options available in life. Her tenet became: “Be willing to look at alternatives, courageous enough to take chances.”
In 1942, she marriage Robert H. Anderson, a UC Davis graduate who had joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a fighter pilot in World War II. After the war, the couple lived in Visalia, where Ruth was a teacher. With their three daughters, Kris, Katie and Candy, they moved to Davis in 1953, where her sister Elaine Edlefsen Cooper already lived with her husband, Dr. Tom Cooper, and their four children.
The families shared Christmas, Easter picnics and egg hunts at the Putah Creek Canyon, summers in the pool, and vacations at the Cooper cabin in Strawberry when the Andersons lived in the 800 block of Anderson Road and the Coopers lived on the corner of Eighth and A streets.
Ruth took great delight in all of her family, frequently speaking about her daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with visitors and friends.
She taught elementary and junior high school in Woodland and Davis, where she began the HAPS Program (High Aptitude Potential Students). Later, she became vice principal at Davis Junior High. In the early 1960s, she also taught Spanish on the local educational channel, KVIE in Sacramento.
After serving as assistant dean of women under Susan B. Regan, she became the dean of women. This position was later renamed associate dean of students. As she described it, “my days are filled with students who come to me for many reasons, both academic and social. I try to be as honest as possible.” She credited her ability to connect with young adults to her daughters, who taught her to change with the times.
As dean, she was instrumental in the establishment of alternatives in birth control at the Student Health Center, as well as the formation of a Women's Caucus. Then-Chancellor James H. Meyer charged her to head a task force on the status of women at UC Davis. Her commitment to women's issues resulted in women receiving unprecedented opportunities for participation and advancement in both academics and athletics. Then changes Ruth effected laid the groundwork for many of the programs, resources and laws that benefit women throughout the UC system today.
She was an active member of the Prytanean Society, a collegiate women's honor society, and the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She was also a strong supporter of Hammerskjold House, International House and the Cal Aggie Christian Association. She served as grand marshal of the Picnic Day Parade in 1977.
Upon her retirement in 1987, a bench was dedicated to her on the Quad across from her office at South Hall, with the Cal Aggie Band playing at the ceremony. In 2000, UC Davis honored her with the naming one of the five courts at the Colleges at LaRue residential complex. This is now known as the Ruth E. Anderson Court.
She remained very active in her retirement. She enjoyed visiting with family, attending lectures and cultural events as well as her membership on many committees at University Retirement Center. She traveled to Scandinavia, Russia and Mexico. In 2004, she suffered a stroke that impaired her ability to speak, thus limiting her participation, but not her enthusiasm for the University Retirement Community Inquiring Minds Committee, a community group she helped to create. This committee continues to educate by scheduling lectures and discussions at the URC.
Ruth never stopped learning, taking up bird-watching from her window during the last year of her life. Her love of reading, classical music and opera continued until the week before she died. She also relished the time she spent with family and friends and she continued to attend social functions, including a baby shower held last month for her great-granddaughter Sydney Lyn Pyeatt, who is due to arrive in March.
Ruth's life was filled with love and laughter. She took great delight in all of her family, frequently speaking about her daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with visitors and friends.
“Love is the answer to all our problems, ” Ruth once said. “All too often we deny it; we deprive ourselves of the affection we deserve. When I give love and understanding, I have it returned a thousand-fold.”
She is survived by her sister, Elaine Edlefsen Cooper of Davis, and her daughters, Kristine Anderson Pyeatt of Tijeras, N.M., Katherine Anderson Dixon of Solana Beach and Candace Janet Anderson of Davis. She is also survived by her former husband, Robert H. Anderson of San Diego.
She is survived by six grandchildren, Deborah (Pyeatt) Anderson of Placerville, Jennifer (Hanson) Sewing of St. Louis, Mo., Michael Pyeatt of Davis, Clint Pyeatt of Albuquerque, N.M., and Allison Dixon and Lindsey Dixon, both of Solana Beach.
Her four great-grandchildren are Christopher Sewing, Selby Anderson, Zachary Anderson and Katherine Sewing. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the University Retirement Center auditorium, with a reception following. The family has established an endowed fund at UC Davis in Ruth E. Anderson's honor. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to: UCD Foundation, 1480 Drew Ave., Davis, CA 95616; note that the donation is for the “Ruth E. Anderson Endowed Fund.”
She will be missed by the many students, friends and family whose lives she touched. She left an indelible mark on humanity. In her 1983 lecture, she ended with, “Look at me: I am not an academician, I am not a theologian; I'm just a person who loves life.”
CHEECHOV
Naomi Mary Anna Karsten Cheechov
Naomi Cheechov died on April 22, 1996, in Sacramento, California, at the age of 68. She was a native of Red Bluff, California.
Her husband is listed as Victor J. Cheechov, and her children are listed as: Victor J. Cheechov, Walter K. Cheechov, and David W. Cheechov. (Walter and David Cheechov were both of West Sacramento.) Her daughters are listed as, Cynthia Lamar, who lived in Santa Rosa, and Vicki Seros, who lived in Sacramento. Naomi Cheechov's brother is listed as Russell Karsten who lived in Las Vegas Nevada. She was survived by 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Visitation was held on Thursday from 9:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. at the A. J. Nicoletti Funeral Home at 5401 Folsom Boulevard, Sacramento. The funeral was held on Friday at 2:00 p.m. Burial was at the East Lawn Memorial Park, and remembrances were to be directed to the Mercy Hospice at 9940 Business Park Drive, Suite 165, Sacramento, CA 95827.
CHILDERS
Clifford Perry Childers
Clifford P. Childers, 61, a native Californian and a resident of the Knights Landing for the past 25 years, died early this morning in Woodland Clinic hospital where he had been a patient since May 22.
The son of Mrs. and Mrs. John G. Childers, he attended schools in Woodland.
He formerly operated a grocery store in Knights Landing, but recently had been engaged in farming.
Childers was a member of the Wheatland Masonic lodge, Knights Templar, Scottish Rite bodies, and Ben Ali Temple shrine, Sacramento.
He is survived by his wife, Reva; a daughter, Mrs. Floyd McCue, of Redwood City; a grandson, Blair Hulber, stationed at Hamilton Field; two brothers, George Childers, of Stockton, and a half sister, Mrs. Juanita Tracy, of Los Angeles.
Masonic services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Kraft Brothers chapel.
(Dated Saturday June 1, 1954)
C. P. Childers Services Held
Funeral services for Clifford P. Childers, 61, of Knights Landing, were conducted at 2 p.m. yesterday in Kraft Brothers chapel.
The Rev. Ralph Bolick, of Knights Landing, and members of Nicolaus lodge, No. F & AM officiated. Mrs. Jewel Krohn was organist.
Pallbearers were J. R. Bohannon, Ralph Marvin, Ralph Shuey, Irvin Kramer, Jr., C. J. McMurdo and B. F. Jones.
Burial was in Woodland cemetery.
(Dated Saturday June 1, 1954)
