Deaths Deaths (June 13, 2001)

Doris E. Bartindale

Doris E. Bartindale, 84, a longtime social worker and professional Girl Scout, died May 4 of respiratory failure caused by pneumonia.

She had lived for the last three years at the Sharon Heights Care Center in Menlo Park, near her daughter.

Born Doris Emily Wakefield in Springfield, Mass. on June 24, 1916, she graduated from Classical High School in Springfield then attended the Posse Nissan School of Physical Education and Physiotherapy. She worked with infants and children at the Boston School for Crippled Children while in school.

She earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Alabama in 1939, then a master's degree in educational psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1941, the year she married Roger Bartindale.

She became a jazz aficionado while in college and music was one of her lifelong loves. She also was a serious baseball fan, first following the Chicago White Sox then the San Diego Padres.

During the war years, she worked for the USO, training and directing hostesses in Boston and Seattle and overseeing educational and recreational programs for servicemen. When her husband was discharged from the Army in 1946, the Bartindales opened the first retail store in Springfield, Mass. to sell frozen food exclusively. But they were ahead of customer demand, and the store failed within a year.

After relocating to Chicago, she worked as director of women's and girls' work for the Hyde Park YMCA. While her husband went back to school, she worked in the business office of the Lahey Clinic in Boston.

She was a professional staff member for the Girl Scouts for many years, starting out in Chicago. After moving to Hawaii in 1951, she continued her Scout work on Oahu and later became executive director of the Girl Scout Council on Kauai. The family moved back to the mainland in 1958 and lived in the San Joaquin Valley.

Later they moved to El Centro, where she worked for 15 years as a child welfare worker and supervisor for the Imperial County Welfare Department and as an inpatient psychiatric social worker.

Following a move to San Diego County in 1979, she acted as conservator to psychiatric patients who were placed in board-and-care homes there from Imperial County. She lived in San Diego County nearly 20 years.

Known to her friends as "Dodie," she loved animals and doted on her own cats. She devoted much energy to helping establish the Imperial County Humane Society and building an animal shelter in the 1970s.

She was married to Roger Bartindale for 30 years and they had one daughter. They divorced in 1971.

She is survived by her daughter, Becky Bartindale, of Palo Alto, and her former husband, Roger, of Fowler, Ind. No services were held.
Daniel Max Melnick

Daniel Max Melnick, 29, a resident of Palo Alto, died May 31.

He was a bright and compassionate young man who loved music and literature. He struggled courageously against mental illness and other medical problems for many years.

He enjoyed concerts, films, baseball, writing stories and poems, studying astrology, playing drums and spending time with family and friends.

He is survived by his mother, Jan Peterson of Palo Alto; father, Jack Melnick of Cupertino; and a grandmother, Bonita Peterson of Tyron, N.C. A Jewish graveside service has been held. A memorial service will be held at a location to be determined in Palo Alto on June 24.
Victor Emile Musy

Victor Emile Musy, 53, a longtime resident of Menlo Park, died May 27 at his home in Pebble Beach from complications caused by diabetes.

He attended Oak Knoll School in Menlo Park and Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton. Throughout his youth he participated in baseball and football, and played quarterback at both Woodside and Menlo-Atherton High Schools. He graduated from University of the Pacific in Stockton and then earned a degree from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.

He first practiced law in Sacramento, then relocated to Monterey County where he continued his law practice in both Salinas and Monterey. Most recently he owned and operated the Cornucopia Specialty Bakery in Pacific Grove. His hobbies included hunting and golf, and he had an avid interest in history.

He is survived by his father, Maurice V. Musy of Pebble Beach; and a sister, Michele Musy, of Menlo Park. A private memorial service will held at his sister's home at a future time this summer. Donations may be made to a charity of your choice or to the American Diabetes Association.
Robert A. Prentice

Robert A. Prentice, 28, died in New York City on April 29 of a cerebral hemorrhage, a complication of leukemia.

He was born on July 9, 1972 at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City to the late Beatriz Prentice and Allan E. Prentice. He attended Los Altos High School and San Jose State University.

He participated at the Palo Alto Children's Theatre from age 8 to age 20 playing roles such as Uncle Pig in "Charlotte's Web", Bob Crachit in "A Christmas Carol", Mordcha in "Fiddler on the Roof", Nephtali in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and many other roles. He also worked for the City of Palo Alto at the Children's Theatre as a technical assistant during and after his college years.

At San Jose State he played Jacques in "As You Like It," roles in "Working," 33 roles in "A Piece of My Heart," a Vietnam drama. He won awards as best leading male actor and actor of the year at San Jose State. He also studied Classical Clowning in Spain.

He was an actor with the Barn Theatre in Michigan and also performed with TheatreWorks, the San Jose Stage, Northside Theatre Productions and Western Stage in Salinas.

At the time of his death, he was completing scenic designs for "Henry V" at the New Ensemble Theatre in New York City. In addition to theater, his interests included Shakespeare, his computer, role-playing games, fantasy football and Jerry Lewis.

He is survived by his father, Allan E. Prentice of San Jose; brother, David Prentice and stepmother Linda Jensen of Ashland, Ore.; and grandmother, Isabel Prentice of Toronto, Canada.

A celebration of his life will be held at the Palo Alto Children's Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Donations may be made in his memory to the Friends of the Palo Alto Children's Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto 94301.
Jerome G. Steimle

Jerome G. Steimle, 83, a 35-year resident of Palo Alto and Portola Valley, died June 3 in Santa Rosa.

He was a native of Ypsilanti, Mich. and a graduate of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, social fraternity. In high school he was elected to the National Honor Society.

Before joining the Navy during World War II, he attended Johns Hopkins University and worked in an engineering capacity at Glenn L. Martin Co. aircraft builders, in Baltimore, Maryland.

In the Navy he was a line officer serving on a minesweeper in the North Atlantic. His ship eventually was involved in a lend-lease program with the Soviet Union and a training of the Russian crew in Alaska. Later in duty, the Pacific took him to many of the islands of the Pacific and China. He left the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander and became commander of a Naval reserve unit at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.

Concurrently he was employed by N.W. Ayer advertising agency in San Francisco as a writer-account executive. Later he moved to the Peninsula with Magna Engineering Corp., manufacturer of Shopsmith woodworking power tools, as advertising manager. In other employment in the Palo Alto area, he worked for Communication Arts magazine and Hare, Brewer & Kelley, a real estate developer. Most of his years on the Peninsula were as principal of his freelance writing and advertising service.

He was an articles contributor to Communication Arts, Graphis, a graphic design publication, Zurich, and authored a number of travel articles.

He was a member of Stanford Golf Club and was president of the club in 1970. One of his interests was opera, which led to a career of several years as a supernumerary with the San Francisco Opera.

In 1987 he retired to Lake Tahoe, dividing time between Tahoe and the Cayman Islands where he and his wife had a beach villa. In retirement he collaborated on a boating article with the former first mate of the Delphine, one of the world's largest yachts, on which he had worked as a deckhand during college days. The article was published in Wooden Boat Magazine and later became part of a book of sea stories by the Delphine first mate. He assisted in the publication of this book.

He and his wife of more than 50 years, Dorothy, left Lake Tahoe in 1997, settling in Santa Rosa. Jerry was preceded in death by his son, Michael. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; son, Peter Steimle of Washington; daughters Christie and Fallon, both of Lake Tahoe; and son Hugh Steimle, of Santa Rosa; brother Anthony Steimle and sister Mary Cogar of San Jose; brother David Steimle of Cameron Park; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Milivoje Stankovic

Milivoje Stankovic, 86, a longtime resident of Woodside and a Palo Alto business owner, died after a long illness.

A native of Yugoslavia, he served in the Yugoslavian Army as a Royal Guard during World War II. After the war, he met his future wife, Frieda, and the two were married in 1949. The couple then moved to Australia, and finally immigrated to the United States to begin a new life.

He and his wife started a successful clothing business, M. Stankovic & Sons, which became one of Palo Alto's most prominent businesses for 36 years.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Frieda; their two sons, William and Alexander; his son from a previous marriage, Branislav; and four grandchildren.

His life will be remembered at a private family gathering. In lieu of flowers, his family requests that contributions be made to the National Stroke Association, 9707 E. Easter Lane, Englewood, Colo., 80112.
Mary L. Beck

Mary L. Beck, a longtime resident of Atherton and Portola Valley, died June 4. She was 91.

A native of St. Paul, Minn., she was one of four children born to Mary Louise Cross and J.A.A. Burnquist. When she was nine years old, her father was elected Governor of Minnesota. This was during World War I, and she could remember and relate many interesting stories from those years.

From St. Paul, the family moved to Minneapolis, Minn., where she attended and graduated from Central High School. She graduated from Carleton College in 1931, with honors in English. She began her career teaching high school English in Alexandria, Minn. for two years. She then taught in Appleton, Wis. for four years. She returned in 1937 and married a college classmate, Joseph C. Beck.

They had a remarkable life together for more than 50 years. They traveled extensively, all over the world, and she kept scrapbooks of all the trips. They went on many fishing trips to McKenzie River in Oregon, their favorite.

They lived in Atherton where they raised their two children, Steve and Kathy. Her son was an officer and aide to General Ware in the Vietnam war and was killed in a helicopter crash with the general and five others. Her strength brought the family through that tragedy.

From their home in Atherton, she and her husband moved to the Sequoias in Portola Valley, where they lived for over 20 years. She often spoke of the Sequoias as the perfect place to live for the rest of their lives, which both were able to do.

She is survived by a sister, Ruth, of Santa Clara; a brother, Rowland, of Maryland; a daughter Kathryn, of Oakhurst; and two grandchildren.
Estelle E. Ternquist

Estelle E. Ternquist, a 55-year resident of Atherton, died June 2. She was 96.

A native of Rolla, N.D., she was one of seven siblings. She taught school on the Indian reservation in North Dakota before she married Arnold Ternquist n 1934. She and Arnold moved to New York as newlyweds. The couple moved to San Francisco in 1937 where her husband established his own accounting practice. They moved to Atherton in 1946 where she was a homemaker ever since. She was active in the Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park.

She and her husband were married for 67 years before he passed away this January.

She is survived by two children, Sallie J. Sanders of Orinda; and Thomas Ternquist of Suffern, N.Y.; three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A private memorial service for the family will be held.