Week of April 18, 2002
Sharen Lea Gonzales
Sharen Lea Gonzales, a Hollister resident who grew up in Salinas, died April 16, 2000. She was 57.
Mrs. Gonzales was a member of St. Benedict's Catholic Church. She loved to crochet, spend time with her grandchildren and her dog, Chandler, and liked to travel and eat out.
Mrs. Gonzales is survived by her children Kari Medina of Cupertino, Sarah Amado of Hollister, Jason Medina of Hollister, son-in-law Chad Duran of Hollister, siblings Frank Cantrell and Karen Naval of Salinas, and six grandchildren. She was preceded in death by son Paul Medina and brother Elwood Cantrell.
Visitation is today from 3-8 p.m. at Grunnagle Ament Nelson Funeral Home, with recitation of the Rosary at 7 p.m. The funeral is Friday, when the procession will leave the mortuary chapel at 10 a.m. for St. Benedicts and a 10:30 mass. Private cremation will follow at Grunnagle Ament Nelson Crematory in Hollister.
Robert Lynn Jacobs Jr.
Robert Lynn Jacobs Jr., a resident of Hollister, died April 6. He was 39.
Mr. Jacobs was born Sept. 28, 1962 in Maine to parents Robert and Elaine Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs was a graduate of Dixon High School and enjoyed music and playing the drums. He was a truck driver and a member of the Teamsters. He was a wonderful husband, father and son.
Mr. Jacobs is survived by his wife, Darlene, son Anthony Jacobs of Healdsburg, parents Robert and Elaine Jacobs of Mariposa, brother Glenn Jacobs of Gilroy, grandmother Lonnie Jacobs of Maine and many friends. He was preceded in death by his sister, Crystal Joy Burris in 1979.
The funeral was April 12 at the Assembly of God Church in Mariposa with Reverend Malcom McPhail of New Hope Community Church of Gilroy officiating. Burial was in the Mariposa Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Mariposa Funeral Home and Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home.
Week of April 11, 2002
Sam Cunha
Sam Cunha, a Hollister resident, died in San Jose on April 3, 2002. He was 47.
Mr. Cunha was born in San Jose. He worked as a heavy equipment operator in construction for 25 years.
He is survived by his grandmother, Louise Branum of Hollister, children Jerry Cunha of San Jose, Teresa McClelland of Arizona and Lorna Buick of San Francisco. He is also survived by his sister Debbie Saul of Hollister and his brother Bill Cunha of Los Banos, several grandchildren, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles.
Graveside services will be held today at 4 p.m. at Calvary Cemetery. Arrangements for services and cremation are under the direction of the Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Home and Crematory in Hollister.
Dionicia M. Franco
Dionicia M. Franco died on April 3, 2002 at her Hollister home. She was 94.
Mrs. Franco is survived by her children: Estella Mendoza of El Paso, Tex., Bertha Espino of Seaside, Dora Herrera of Hollister, Frank Franco of Corona,
John Franco of Lovington, N.M. and Lola Hernandez of Corona.
She is also survived by her many grandchildren and great grandchildren
She had come to Hollister just seven months ago from New Mexico to be with her daughter, Dora and her family here in Hollister.
The funeral was April 5 at Black Cooper Sander Funeral Home with burial at Calvary Cemetery.
Ray A. Hawkins
Ray A. Hawkins died April 4, 2002 at Hazel Hawkins Hospital. He was 84.
Mr. Hawkins was a lifetime resident of San Benito County and was an apricot orchardist and cattleman. He and his wife, Jesseley, were married in 1945 in Reno. He was a past member of the Farm Bureau, Cattleman's Association and the Hollister Elks Lodge.
He is survived by his wife, Jesseley Hawkins of Hollister, his son and Daughter-in-law, Ray A. and Debbie Hawkins of Hollister and his sister, Margaret Houghton of Hollister.
He was preceded in death in 1978 by his sister, Laurel Hawkins.
The funeral was Monday with interment at the IOOF Cemetery.
Donations are preferred to Hazel Hawkins Hospitals Foundation or The Diabetes Association.
Roy Franklin Spencer
Roy "Jum" Franklin Spencer died April 3, 2002 at Hospice House in Monterey.
Mr. Spencer was born in Hollister April 13, 1925. He served in the Korean War in the Army and received the Purple Heart. He lived and worked most of his life in San Benito County, first as a stone and brick mason and then as a carpenter.
He is survived by his wife, Anne Wellbaum Flook Spencer of Paicines, son Roy Spencer Jr., daughter Georgia Mitchell of Gilroy, son John Large of Milpitas, son Wayne Large of Fresno, and sister Betty Duckworth of Hawaii.
He also is survived by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Roy is also survived by Anne's family: Fred Flook of Hollister, Roger Flook of Washington, daughter Rebecca Viscarra of Morgan Hill, daughters Kenda Hergert of Washington and Kimberly Smith of San Jose.
The funeral was Saturday with Interment at IOOF Cemetery. Donations are preferred to Hospice, Methodist Church or Presbyterian Church c/o Black Cooper Sander Funeral Home, 363 7th St. Hollister, CA 95023
Week of April 4, 2002
Mildred E. Anderson
Mildred E. Anderson, a veteran of WWII, died March 31, 2002 at Southside Convalescent Hospital. She was 88.
Mrs. Anderson had been a resident of Hollister since 1958, when she and her husband, Howard, moved here from Santa Clara. They were married in 1944 in Santa Barbara. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the Merritt Hospital School of Nursing. She was last employed with the San Benito County Health Department prior to her retirement.
Mrs. Anderson served honorably in the US Army during WWII and was part of the 120th Evacuation Hospital. She was at Buchenwald in the final days of the war. She was a member of Hollister United Methodist Church and sang in the choir for many years and was a past member of The American Association of University Women.
She is survived by her husband, Howard Anderson of Hollister, her sons
Philip Anderson of Gilroy, Eric Anderson of Boise, ID and daughter, Nancy Contival of Hollister. She is also survived by six grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Memorial services will be held on today at 11 a.m. at Hollister United Methodist Church at Fifth and Monterey streets. Rev. Ardyss Golden will officiate. A reception will follow the services at the church social hall.
Family interment will be at Mission City Memorial Park, 420 Winchester Blvd. Santa Clara, CA at 11 a.m. on April 5.
Donations are preferred to Southside Convalescent Hospital residents' activities fund. Arrangements and cremation are through Black Cooper Sander Funeral Home and Gavilan Hills Crematory.
Edward Contival
Edward Contival died at his home in Hollister Tuesday morning. He was 65.
Mr. Contival was born and reared in Hollister. He attended local schools and was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. He was a handyman and gardener all his life.
He is survived by his wife, Audelia Contival of Hollister, his mother, Mary R. Contival, very close friends Tony and Naomi Schneider, cousins Jeff and Allan Contival and Cheryl Larios, all from Hollister. He is also survived by many aunts, uncles and additional cousins.
Mr. Contival was preceded in death by his father, Alfred Contival.
A rosary was held on Wednesday at the Grunnagle Ament Nelson Funeral Home. The funeral is today at 9:30 a.m. at Grunnagle, proceding to Scared Heart Catholic Church for a funeral mass beginning at 10 a.m. Burial and graveside services will be at Calvary Cemetery.
Mary L. Medeiros
Mary L. Medeiros of Hollister died on April 29, 2002 at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. She was 79.
Mrs. Medeiros was a native of Hollister and attended local schools, including San Benito High School. She was a member of Immaculate Conception Church. She was also a very active member of the parish and worked for fundraisers and parish barbeques. She enjoyed traveling throughout the United States with her late husband, George Medeiros Jr., before he passed away in 1992. They had been married more than 50 years.
Mrs. Medeiros had been an employee of Pacific Telephone for eight years prior to spending 25 years working for the EDD Office in Hollister as an evaluator.
She is survived by her daughters Casey Willis and her husband Rob of Thermopolis, Wyo, four grandchildren and many cousins.
She also was preceded in death by her sister, Clydene Frusetta.
A Mass of Resurrection was held at the Immaculate Conception Church on Wednesday morning. Donations are preferred to Hazel Hawkins Hospital Foundation or to Immaculate Conception Church c/o Grunnagle Ament Nelson Funeral Home. Arrangements for cremation were conducted through Grunnagle Ament Nelson Crematory.
Kathleen 'Kathy' Perazzo
Kathleen Marie Dooner Williams Perazzo, a Hollister resident, died April 3, 2002. She was 61.
Mrs. Perazzo was born at Bird Island, Minn. and came to San Benito from San Jose in 1998. Mrs. Perazzo was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church of Hollister. She was a bookkeeper for over 20 years and a housewife and homemaker.
Mrs. Perazzo is survived by her husband, Mike Perazzo of Hollister, daughter Brenda Hantula of Rancho Santa Margarita, son Michael Williams of Pleasanton, step-daughter Sandra Werning of San Jose, step-daughter Cynthia Bettencourt of Stockton, eight grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews, sisters Dorothy Rebstock, Shirley Brandjord, Donna Eisenbacher, Joann Holien of Minnesota, brothers Mike Dooner and Don Dooner of Minnesota. Mrs. Perazzo was preceded in death by her brother Clarence Dooner and sister Lois Wencil.
Visitation will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church 2300 Airline Highway, Hollister on Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon. Friends are invited to attend the funeral services beginning at noon at the church. Private cremation and inurnment will follow at Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Crematory.
Contributions are preferred to Trininty Lutheran Church c/o Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home.
Week of March 28, 2002
Arnold A. Alexander
World War II veteran Arnold A. Alexander died at home in Hollister March 22, 2002. He was 74.
Mr. Alexander was born Oct. 3, 1927 in the Bird Creek area of Cienega in San Benito County. He attended local schools and served in the army for two years between 1945 and 1947, when he was stationed in Korea.
After the war he worked at the San Benito Feed and Warehouse store, where he met Jwanita K. Commander, to whom he would be wed for 53 years.
The great grandson of a gold rush miner, he was the owner and operator of Alexander Trucking Company for 18 years.
He is survived by wife Jwanita K. Alexander, sons Robert Dean Alexander and John David Alexander of Hollister. He also is survived by brother William E. Alexander of Rancho Cucamonga, sister Eva Carter of Sacramento, three grandchildren, one great grandchild and 19 nieces and nephews.
The service was Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. at the Chapel of Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home. Inurnment and graveside services followed at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery with full military rites by the V.F.W. of Hollister.
Contributions are preferred to Hospice.
Margie Norma Jones
Margie Norma Jones died on March 20, 2002 in Anchorage, Alaska. She was 83.
She was born Margie Norma Wright in Texas on Sept. 13, 1918 and moved to Hollister when she was in her 20s. She was mainly a homemaker and worked for J.C. Penny for 10 years. A member of Hollister United Methodist Church and the VFW Auxiliary, she also enjoyed traveling with her husband and friends to Florida, Alaska, South Dakota and Death Valley. She moved to Alaska in 1997.
She is survived by her sons and their wives, Ed and Debbie Jones of Hollister and Richard and Linda Jones of Anchorage. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jess, in 1996.
The memorial is April 3 at 4 p.m. at United Methodist Church, 5th and Monterey Streets. Rev. Ardyss Golden will officiate. A reception will follow the services at the social hall.
Interment will be at San Joaquin National Cemetery in Santa Nella.
Donations are preferred to a charity of choice. Arrangements are through Black Cooper Sander Funeral Home.
Agnes I. Lipska
Agnes I. Lipska, who worked in food service at San Juan Elementary for many years, died March 22, 2002 at Hazel Hawkins Hospital. She was 86.
Mrs. Lipska was born in Peetz, Colo., and had lived in Aromas for many years. She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star, Aromas Community Bible Church and Springfield Grange in Las Lomas.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Alfred Lipska, in 1960 and is survived by her children: Harold A. Lipska of Newport, Ore., Elsie E.
Tidwell of Aromas, Verna Mae Larson of Hollister and James Gordon Lipska of Valley Springs, and her siblings George W. Davis of Aurora, Colo., Robert L. Davis of Sterling, Colo., and Phyllis Foster of Albuquerque, N.M. She also is survived by 21 grandchildren, 46 great grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren.
Memorial services are today at Aromas Community Bible Church in Aromas. A reception will follow the services at the church. Interment is at Pajaro Valley Memorial Park in Watsonville.
Donations are preferred to Alzheimer's Disease Foundation. Arrangements and cremation are through Black Cooper Sander Funeral Home.
Jose Oscar Martinez
Jose Oscar Martinez, who worked for the City of Hollister, died March 19, 2002 at Hazel Hawkins Hospital. He was 61.
Mr. Martinez came to Hollister in 1959 from Texas. He was retired from the city's water and street maintenance departments, where he worked for 30 years.
He was a member of Sunnyslope Christian Center and enjoyed fishing, golf and cars. He was the proud owner of a restored 1957 Chevrolet.
He is survived by his sons and their wives: Oscar and Anita Martinez of Clovis, Rene and Suzette Martinez of Hollister and Manuel and Stacy Martinez of Clovis, brother Nazario Martinez of Hollister, sister Beatrice Campos of Texas, eight grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
The funeral was Friday at Sunnyslope Christian Center. Interment was at the IOOF Cemetery.
Amador Talavera Molina
Amador Talavera Molina died March 23, 2002 in Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico. He was 60.
Mr. Talavera was a lifelong resident of Uruapan, where he worked as a firefighter for six years before starting his own car repair service, which he ran for the last 20 years.
He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Cristina Munoz of Uruapan, and his children: daughter Cristina and spouse Cristobal of Hollister, son Jose and spouse Beatriz, daughter Bertha and spouse Carlos, daughter Guadalupe Talavera, and daughter Veronica Talavera, all of Uruapan and eight grandchildren: Hugo Ramon, Margarita, Armando, Cristian Josue, Brandon Duilio, Karino, Amador, and Daniel.
The funeral was March 24 in the Temple de San Francisco de Asis, and gravesite services followed at the Panteon Munisipal de Uruapan Cemetery.
Robert A. Ray
Robert 'Bobby' A. Rey died at his home in Hollister. He was 62.
Mr. Rey was born Monterey and lived in Hollister all his life. He was a heavy equipment operator and work for 12 years for Mark Nicholson, Inc.
He is survived by his wife, Kathy Rey, children Debbie Perales of Hollister, Tammy Rey of Hollister and Curt Rey of Hollister. He also is survived by three grandchildren, his stepmother and father, Glady's and Frank Vieitas of Sacramento, his mother, Ruth Rey of Florida, siblings, Karen Van Tassel and Joe and John Vieitas, all of Sacramento and Gene Rey of Southern California. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.
The funeral was Tuesday at the chapel of the Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home. Burial and graveside services will follow at the I.O.O.F Cemetery. Contributions are preferred to your favorite charity.
Harold R. Smith
Harold R. Smith a veteran of World War II, died on March 20, 2002 at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. He was 88.
Mr. Smith was born on March 22, 1913 in Illinois and lived in Hollister for 19 years.
During the war Mr. Smith was a navigator and an aircraft maintenance officer in the United States Air Force.
Mr. Smith was a member of the Retired Officers Association and Ridgemark Golf and Country Club. He worked for Federal Housing Authority for six years in San Francisco. Mr. Smith served in the Army/Corps in WWII and Korea. He enjoyed golfing and working with computers.
Mr. Smith is survived by his wife, Catherine Smith of Hollister, children Karen Beckwith of Folsom and Michael Smith of Auburn, sisters, Mary Ruth Thompson of Paradise Valley, Ariz., and five grandchildren.
Services will be announced at a later date. There will be no public visitation.
