August 27, 2004

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Kathleen Namphy, a retired Stanford University lecturer and Palo Alto resident, went missing while hiking a mountain in Iran this week and is presumed dead, according to Namphy's daughter, Lisa-Marie Namphy.

The younger Namphy said she got a call from the Swiss Embassy on Monday, informing her that her mother had disappeared while climbing the 18,600-foot Mount Damavand, the highest mountain in Iran.

Because they hadn't found her body, the embassy changed the 69-year-old Namphy's status to missing but presumed dead on Monday night, according to her daughter.

Throughout the week, Lisa-Marie said rescue teams searched for her mother. This morning, officials from the embassy said they have found a body and are in the process of identifying it.

In addition to being an emeritus lecturer in English and the Humanities at Stanford for approximately 30 years, Kathleen was a mother of four, and a grandmother.

Lisa-Marie said that one of her brothers is on his way to Iran to sort out the details surrounding Kathleen's disappearance and possible death.

Every year, Kathleen and a group of others go hiking to raise awareness for breast cancer. According to Lisa-Marie, the group originally planned to head to Mount Damavand this year but later changed their minds about the location.

Namphy had her heart set on the Damavand summit, and she set out to reach it with a different group. She planned to hit the summit on Sunday and was likely headed back down when she slipped and hit her head, Lisa-Marie said.

A member of Kathleen's group told Lisa-Marie that he left her injured mother under the watch of some Kurdish hikers, who volunteered to stay while Kathleen's friend got help.

By the time help arrived on the scene, both Kathleen and the Kurdish hikers were gone, the friend reportedly told Lisa-Marie.

Lisa-Marie called her mother an "amazing woman" and said scaling mountains to raise awareness for breast cancer was only "the tip of the iceberg of things that I'm proud of her for."

She said that Namphy won the Lloyd Dinkelspiel and Walter Gores awards for excellence in teaching during her time at Stanford.

Some of her other accomplishments included living in Iran for 10 years while working for an Iranian zoo and working as a professor at the American University in Beirut, Lisa-Marie said.

Kathleen Namphy was born in Wisconsin but grew up in the Pacific Northwest, according to Lisa-Marie.

Funeral arrangements are pending, she said.

-- Bay City News Service
Benest finishes treatment

Palo Alto City Manager Frank Benest has concluded chemotherapy for treatment of throat cancer. "He looked better yesterday than he has in a long time," Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison said Thursday.

Benest comes in for an hour or two each day, "although he probably shouldn't," Harrison said. He did suffer some hair loss, which often happens with chemotherapy.

Mentally, he's glad to be done with the treatment at Stanford Medical Center, Harrison said. He was diagnosed with throat cancer earlier this year. --Don Kazak
New cross-Bay bus route free to Stanford staff, faculty

A new express bus route connecting Stanford University and Fremont launched this week.

The A.C. Transit commute-hour express, Line U, will offer one bus heading east from Stanford Shopping Center each morning at 7 a.m. and three buses heading west from Fremont leaving at 6 a.m., 7 a.m. and 8:16 a.m. The westbound routes will stop at the Stanford Oval, Stanford Medical Center and Stanford Shopping Center.

Afternoon routes from the Stanford Oval will leave at about 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., with stops at the medical center and shopping centers before heading east across the Dumbarton Bridge.

As an incentive for riders, the faculty and staff at the university and medical center can ride Line U for free by displaying their employee photo I.D. cards. Regular fares are $3 for adults; $1.50 for youth; and $1.50 for seniors and the disabled.

At a time when budget shortfalls have prompted the elimination of bus routes, this three-year demonstration project is being funded by a $1.3 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration, a $50,000 subsidy from Stanford University and Caltrans.

For information, see www.actransit.org.

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