Deaths Deaths (May 12, 2004)

Patricia Franke

Patricia Bingham Franke, 74, a 47-year resident of Palo Alto, died April 15 of a malignant brain tumor.

A native of Ogden, Utah, she was raised in Sacramento. In 1952, she graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in business administration. She then worked as an art secretary for the Palo Alto Unified School District for 31 years before retiring in 1999.

A member of the Palo Alto II Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for more than 40 years, she served as a counselor in the Primary Organization, and as the primary president.

Friends and family members said she loved music. She served as ward music director and choir director, and Menlo Park Stake music chairman. She also loved to travel, read and sail.

She is survived by her husband, Richard T. Franke of Palo Alto; her sons, Peter M. Franke of Truckee, Calif. and Douglas S. Franke of Palo Alto; her sister, Shirley B. Thomas of San Luis Obispo; and four grandchildren. Services have been held.

Robert Kantor

Robert Kantor, a Bay Area pioneer in psychotherapy, died at the age of 88.

After graduating from Brooklyn College, he worked as staff psychologist at the New Mexico State Hospital and was a visiting faculty member at the New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas.

From 1946 to 1951, after serving in WWII, he became the chief clinical psychologist at the Veteran Administration Hospital. He also served as director of training and research for University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University psychology interns who rotated through the VA internship program. It was during this time that he extended the understanding of schizophrenia to include both reactive and process forms of the disease.

From 1961 to 1968, he was affiliated with the Medical Research Foundation in Palo Alto, serving as a consultant, research associate, research fellow and member of the board.

He spent time from 1968 to 1971 as senior staff scientist at Stanford Research Institute under a Futures Research grant from the Washington D.C. Office of Education.

As president of Multi-Media Productions, Inc., from 1972 to 1982, he wrote more than 40 educational audio-visual programs.

In 1975, he became the founding president of Pacific Graduate School of Psychology in Palo Alto where he remained until retirement in 1984.

Robert is survived by his wife, Sharon Kantor; daughter, Robin Album and her husband, Jeff, of Lafayette; daughter, Judy Archer and husband, Frank, of Chico; son, Donald Kantor of Pt. Arena; and five granddaughters.

Cyanne E. McElhinney

Cyanne Edmondson McElhinney, 73, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died April 1 with her family present.

Born Aug. 27, 1930, she was the daughter of the late Pauline Keahey and Harold Edmondson, and granddaughter of Cora "Cookie" Clagstone of Palo Alto.

She attended Palo Alto schools and graduated from UC Berkeley. She was a volunteer, docent and member of many Bay Area organizations, including Environmental Volunteers, Past Heritage, California, Palo Alto and Stanford historical societies.

She was a member of the infamous Fallen Women Book Club and known to Homeland Security as a member of the notorious Walter Hayes Kindergarten Gang. She was an avid birder and hiker, walking more than 850 miles of paths and trails in England, Scotland, Wales and Switzerland before illness limited her activity.

She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Bill Mcels of Palo Alto; daughter, Glenne of Palo Alto; son, Gregg of Portland, Ore.; daughter, Dana, and son-in-law, Charles, of San Luis Obispo; brother, Peter, and sister-in-law, Sally, of Woodside; and two grandchildren.

There will be a very informal gathering to celebrate her life on Saturday, May 22, at 1 p.m. at Mitchell Park, 3800 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, in the "Bowl" encircled by sycamore trees to the west of the parking lot behind the library.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests you do what she would have done: Gather your family and friends, give them a big hug and tell them that you love them.

Margaret McMonagle

Margaret Mylius McMonagle, a longtime Palo Alto resident, died April 20 in Salinas following a brief illness. She was 88.

Born in Aurora, Ill., on Oct. 14, 1915, she was raised in Wenatchee, Wash., with her three brothers: John, Chuck and Bill Mylius. She met her husband, Charles Wesley McMonagle, in Alaska during World War II, and they married on July 7, 1944.

She was a homemaker, a secretary for Lockheed Martin, and a 53-year resident of Palo Alto. She enjoyed hiking, reading, bridge and being with her family.

She is survived by a daughter, Shari Bachman of Salinas; two sons, Charles McMonagle of San Diego and Bruce McMonagle of Custer, S.D.; four grandchildren; and two brothers, Chuck Mylius of Wenatchee, Wash., and Bill Mylius of Seattle, Wash.

Aura G. Sawyer

Aura Goodenough Sawyer died April 16 at Channing House in Palo Alto. She was 90.

Born Nov. 27, 1913, in Springfield, S.D., she graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1937, she traveled to Maraca Ibo, Venezuela, to work as a teacher for Creole Petroleum. There she met a young geologist who became her husband, Joseph Herbert Sawyer. Together they lived in Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina, London, Norway, Geneva and Libya, finally settling in Los Altos in 1967.

Friends and family remember her as adventurous and exciting, and as a strong advocate for social justice and peace. A member of the Unitarian Universalist Church, she worked for many years as a volunteer for the United Nations Association.

She is survived by a daughter, Carol Jean Sawyer of Oregon; and two sons, Thomas Herbert Sawyer of San Francisco and Ronald Dwight Sawyer of Mexico.

Phoebe Seagrave

Phoebe Seagrave, 84, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died April 17.

At the age of 7, she left the United States with her mother and spent three years abroad, primarily in Paris. Upon returning, she attended schools in New York, Washington D.C., and San Francisco, and then received a bachelor's degree in French from Stanford University at the age of 19. She went on to become one of the first women to earn a master's of business administration from Stanford.

She worked as an investment advisor at Wells Fargo Bank in both Palo Alto and San Francisco for a number of years. When she discovered that she was paid less than her male coworkers, she left Wells Fargo and returned to Stanford to work as an accountant in the finance office.

She was an active participant in the community. Like her mother, she was a member of the Palo Alto Women's Club. She was also a member of the Palo Alto Historical Society, the Fortnightly Club, the First United Methodist Church, and the American Association of University Women. She volunteered at the Avenidas Senior Center and the United Nations store in downtown Palo Alto.

She loved music. She studied piano, and organized a performance group to encourage women in the area to pursue musical studies. Every week, she listened to the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, and supported local music activities throughout her life.

She had no known surviving relatives.

A memorial service was held at the Palo Alto Women's Club on May 8.

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