Publication Date: Wednesday Oct 29, 1997

Deaths

Larry Carver Baker

Larry Carver Baker, 52, a longtime resident of Menlo Park, died Oct. 20 in Menlo Park. He was born in Ohio and grew up in Georgia and Pennsylvania. He served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and was an accomplished auto mechanic. He played high school football, and enjoyed go-cart racing and building model cars. In spite of war-related disabilities he had a wonderful sense of humor. He is survived by his mother, Ellen Cheatham Baker of Menlo Park; two brothers, William Boyd Baker Jr. of Maryland and Nimrod Crooks Baker of San Bruno; and a sister, Stephany Dean Baker of Sonoma. Services have been held. Contributions may be made to the San Mateo Alliance for the Mentally Ill, 30 W. 39th Ave., San Mateo, CA.

Howard Francis Casey

Howard Francis Casey, 79, a former longtime resident of Palo Alto, died Oct. 19 in Sunnyvale. A San Francisco native, he worked as a computer programmer for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Palo Alto. He also worked in San Francisco for more than 40 years. He is survived by his wife, Ardella Casey of Palo Alto; two daughters, Sharon Bishop of Mountain View and Linda Phelps of Sunnyvale; and five grandchildren. A memorial Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 7 at St. Ann's Church, 525 Melville Ave. in Palo Alto. Contributions in his memory may be made either to the Leukemia Society or to the Alzheimer's Association.

Mary Kay Conroy

Mary Kay Conroy, 90, a 65-year resident of Palo Alto, died Oct. 14 in Palo Alto. A native of Chicago, she graduated from the Sacred Heart School in Atherton and later did graduate work in education at Stanford, where she worked for several years. At the start of World War II, she joined the Navy and was a member of the first class of Wave Officers at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. After the war, she attended San Jose State University, where she trained as a librarian. She worked as a librarian for Santa Clara County and later as a teacher at Castilleja School in Palo Alto. After retiring, she traveled extensively and did a tremendous amount of volunteer work. She is survived by a sister, Betty Conroy of Palo Alto. Services have been held. Contributions may be made to the Oakwood Community, 140 Valparaiso Ave., Atherton, CA 94027.

Anne Baschin Faigenbaum

Anne Baschin Faigenbaum, 71, a longtime Palo Alto resident, died Oct. 20 in Palo Alto after a long struggle with cancer. A native of Detroit, Mich., she graduated from Wayne State University. Throughout her life, she nurtured a love of art and literature. Her sense of curiosity fed her desire to travel around the world. She was an avid gardener who marveled at natural beauty and loved especially to hunt for wildflowers. As a member of the National Council of Jewish Women, she was instrumental in founding Operation Friendship, an organization dedicated to arranging for day care for mentally disturbed children and adults. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the California Crafts Museum. In her later years, as part of a writers' circle, she wrote children's stories as well as a long memoir of her life. She is survived by her husband, David Faigenbaum of Palo Alto; two sons, Steve Faigenbaum of Paris, France and Mark Faigenbaum of San Francisco; a daughter, Debbie Faigenbaum of San Francisco; and a sister, Jean Levy of Detroit, Mich. Contributions in her memory may be sent to Mid-Peninsula Home Care and Hospice, 201 San Antonio Circle, Suite 136, Mountain View, CA 94040.

Dr. Samuel Ira Green

Dr. Samuel Ira Green, 50, a 25-year resident of Palo Alto, died Oct. 21 in Palo Alto. He was born in Rutherfordton, N.C. He is survived by his mother, Mary Greene of Tryon, N.C.; a brother, Roy Greene Jr. of Lawrenceville, Ga.; and two sisters, Mary Kathryn Perales of Laurel, Md. and Virginia Sue Hilson of Landrum, S.C.. A memorial service will be held at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Cafeteria Conference Room. Contributions may be sent to the Ira Greene Memorial Fund, c/o Valley Medical Center, 2220 Moorpark Ave., San Jose, CA 95128.

Mary A. Hoffknecht

Mary A. Hoffknecht, 72, a nine-year resident of Menlo Park, died Sept. 30 at home. Born Maria Angela Garay in Guatemala City, Guatemala, she moved to San Jose as a college student. She later met and married William E. Hoffknecht, a rice farmer in Merced. She raised eight children, earned a master's degree in sociology and taught Spanish, French and English as a Second Language at both the high school and college levels. She also played the piano and was an organist at a Roman Catholic church in Merced. After the death of her husband in 1988, she moved to Menlo Park and continued to teach Spanish, at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, the Woodside Priory in Portola Valley and a private language firm in Palo Alto. She is survived by her eight children, Edward Hoffknecht of Fresno, Eric Hoffknecht of Newark, William J. Hoffknecht of Merced, Fred Hoffknecht of Redwood City, Carmen Oldano of Menlo Park, Helen Beegle of Menlo Park, Christina Hoffknecht of Salinas and Rosemarie Slockbower of Newton, N.J.; a brother, Jose Gabriel Garay of Nashville, Tenn.; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Services have been held. Contributions may be sent to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, P.O. Box 2319, Sausalito, CA 94966.

Delmer Gene Imhof

Delmer Gene Imhof, 59, a 12-year resident of Menlo Park, died Oct. 15 in Menlo Park. A native of Hoxie, Kan., he was a local contractor and night manager of the Webster House in Palo Alto. He was also known locally and in Santa Cruz as a painter. He is survived by his wife, BernAnn Abbaduska of Menlo Park; one daughter, Erin Favre of Everett, Wash; his parents, Ralph and Pauline Imhof of Keenesburg, Colo.; two brothers, Doyle Imhof of Menlo Park and Dwayne Imhof of Keenesburg, Colo.; two sisters, Joyce Tegtman of Austin, Texas and Delores Radford of Flint, Texas; and a grandson. Services have been held. Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Peter J. Johnson

Peter J. Johnson, 76, a former longtime Palo Alto resident, died Oct. 4 in Carson City, Nev. A native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, he was a World War II veteran and an operations research engineer with NACA, the forerunner to NASA. He graduated from Iowa State University and Stanford University. In 1969, he served in Vietnam as a civilian consultant to the 7th Air Force. He was a member of VFW, Sigma Nu fraternity, the Operations Research Society, the South Tahoe Genealogical Society and St. Theresa's Catholic Church in South Lake Tahoe. He is survived by his wife, Julia Johnson of Zephyr Cove, Nev.; three sons, Peter Johnson of Reno, Michael Johnson of Medford, Ore., and Mark Johnson of Palo Alto; three daughters, Margaret Johnson of Carson City, Nev., Julie O'Rielly of Aptos and Patricia Johnson of Dublin, Ireland; a sister, Peggie C. Johnson of Sunnyvale; and two grandchildren. Services have been held.

Mary Viola Pell

Mary Viola Pell, 96, a longtime resident of Menlo Park and California native, died Oct. 24, in Menlo Park. She was a sales person with H.C. Capwell's. She is survived by a daughter, Mary McKay of Atherton, and two sons, George Pell Jr. of Antioch and James Craig Pell of Fresno. A memorial service has been held. Donations may be sent to the MidPeninsula Home Care and Hospice, 65 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025.

Orson Cutler Shepard

Orson Cutler Shepard, 94, a 75-year resident of Stanford, died Oct. 16 of heart failure at his campus home. He was born in Del Rey, Calif., and raised in San Jose on a walnut and prune orchard. In 1925 he received his bachelor's degree from Stanford in mining and metallurgy, and in 1928 he received an engineering degree, also from Stanford. He later worked as an assistant mill superintendent in a gold and silver mine in Mexico. Shortly after returning he joined the Stanford mining and metallurgy faculty. In 1957 he was named head of the newly formed department of metallurgy. The department grew rapidly and is currently regarded as one of the top-ranked materials science departments in the country. He is described by engineering professor William Nix as "a kind of quiet pioneer." He was greatly admired for his academic work as well as his graciousness and hospitality. He, along with his wife, who died in 1996, were known to open their home to faculty and their families. After retiring from the department in 1968, he maintained an active interest in department and university affairs. In 1992 the department celebrated his 90th birthday. He marked the occasion by writing a historical sketch of the department of metallurgy and material sciences and his career at Stanford. The department published it as a booklet. He is survived by a son, Roger Shepard of Stanford; a daughter, Cynthia Shepard of Stanford; and three grandchildren. Contributions may be made to the O.C. Shepard Fund, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94035, or to the Mid-Peninsula Hospice, 201 San Antonio Circle, Suite 135, Mountain View, CA 94040. Memorial services are pending.

Marianna Taube

Marianna Taube, 48, a teacher and 37-year resident of Palo Alto, died Oct. 11 after a 10-month struggle with cancer. A native of Chicago, she moved to Portola Valley when she was 11. She later moved with her family to the Stanford campus, where her father, Henry Taube, taught chemistry and was awarded the Nobel prize for his research. She attended Foothill College and later graduated from San Jose State University with a bachelor of arts degree. Her life was dedicated to the care and education of children. For the last 23 years, she worked as a teacher for the Besse Bolton Child Development Center of the Palo Alto Unified School District. She led an active volunteer life in addition to teaching full-time with the Palo Alto Unified School District. She was a PTA member at Palo Verde Elementary School, acting as vice president of fund raising for several years. The school's annual Harvest Festival benefited from her work soliciting hundreds of pumpkin donations. Her work on the "Have a Heart" campaign brought in over $5,000 to the PTA to help support campus programs and projects. "Marianna always made the work seem like fun, so people wanted to join her," said Corinne McCourt, a fellow PTA member. In addition to her work with the PTA, she volunteered every year in her daughter's classrooms doing a variety of jobs. "Marianna came in once a week and would do anything, from scraping glue off desks to assisting students--and she would do it happily and with a sense of humor," said Lisa Swagerty, a Palo Verde third-grade teacher. She also devoted time and effort to the Palo Alto Community Child Care site at Palo Verde. She is survived by her parents, Mary and Henry Taube of Stanford; a daughter, Meredith Alice Taube Herman of Palo Alto; two brothers, Carl Taube of Riverside and Heinrich Taube of Champagne, Ill.; and a sister, Linda Taube of Galway, Ireland. Services will be held Saturday, Nov. 1, at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, 3149 Waverley St. in Palo Alto. Donations may be made to the Mid-Peninsula Home Care and Hospice, Mid-Peninsula Hospice Foundation, 65 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025.

Edward L. White

Edward L. White, 86, a 53-year resident of Menlo Park, died Oct. 26. at Stanford. He was born in Dawson, Yukon Territory, Canada. He owned Ed White's Cleaners in Menlo Park for about 10 years and then worked at Rolley Somers Liquors, now K&L Liquors, in Atherton. He was a longtime member of Nativity Parish and the Palo Alto Elks Club and loved to play golf. He is survived by two daughters, Suzanne Woodcock of Boise, Idaho, an Eileen Bergesen of Bellevue, Wash.; a son, Patrick White of Menlo Park; a sister, Pauline Russell of Chico; and four grandchildren. Contributions may be made to the Father Ford Building Fund, Nativity Church, Menlo Park. A memorial Mass will be said at 11 a.m. today, Oct. 29, at the Nativity Church in Menlo Park.



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