Deaths Deaths (November 03, 2004)

Sue Hamamjian

Sue Baratian Hamamjian, 79, a resident of Saratoga, died Oct. 6.

A native of Massena, N.Y., she moved to California in 1979 after working in public education and for the Aluminum Company of America in Massena. In Silicon Valley, she was employed by Fairchild Semiconductor and SENTRY Schlumberger.

In 1984, following her retirement from corporate industry, she helped run the Sharon Park Gallery in Menlo Park. In 1996, she brought her considerable skills to the Tercera Gallery of Palo Alto, owned by her son, Seb Hamamjian, and her daughter, JoAnn Edwards. She sold artwork, managed the office and kept the books until August 2004. Colleagues say her warmth and charm endeared her to both patrons and artists.

In recent years, her energy and dedication were also focused on the development of the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design, a nonprofit that opened Oct. 23 and is co-founded by JoAnn and Seb. The courtyard garden at the museum's entrance has been dedicated to her memory.

She is survived by her son, George Hamamjian of Sebastopol; son, Seb Hamamjian of Santa Cruz; daughter, JoAnn Edwards of Palo Alto; and one grandson. Her surviving siblings are Vi Baratian of New York, N.Y.; Jenny Sellers of Quincy, Ill.; and Vic Baratian of Leonard, Mich.

A gathering has been held by friends and family to honor her. Donations may be made in her name to the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design, 550 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Robert Donald

Robert Leo Donald, 62, a resident of Palo Alto for more than 50 years, died Oct. 19.

Born in El Paso, Texas, he attended St. Thomas Aquinas School in Palo Alto, Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose and San Jose State University. He worked at Palo Alto's CO-OP Grocery Store before starting a long career at the New York Life Insurance Company.

"To him, everyday was a good day," said his son John Donald. "He greeted every day with a smile."

He loved traveling, meeting people in other countries, bringing toys to impoverished children and collecting artifacts. In addition to Honduras, which he visited frequently, he traveled to many other international destinations.

He had many interests, his son said, including beekeeping and raising birds. He was also a Star Trek fan.

He is survived by his loving wife of 41 years, Cherie Donald of Palo Alto; mother, Elaine Donald; sister, Kathryn Donald; brother, Jack Donald; brother, Tom Donald; brother, Steven; brother, Michael; son, David Donald of Elk Grove; son, John Donald of Menlo Park; son, Robert Donald of Walnut Creek; son, James Donald of San Jose; son, John Brubaker of Mountain View; and three grandchildren.

Services have been held. Donations may be made in his name to the California Jesuit Missionaries, c/o Jack Donald, P.O. Box 68, Los Gatos, CA 95031-0068.

Kitty Sanford

Kitty Gerard Sanford, 46, a Palo Alto native, died Oct. 25.

Dozens of volunteers staged a benefit for her daughter at the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose in July. The party, with a Hawaiian theme and a truly aloha spirit, drew some 500 guests.

She attended Palo Alto schools and graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1976. After receiving her associate of art's degree at Foothill Community College, she attended the University of Nevada at Reno and completed her degree in social work at the University of Hawaii in 1994. After spending 10 years in the Islands, which she loved, she returned to the Bay Area to become a high-tech recruiter, establishing her own business, Gerard and Associates. In her words, she enjoyed "riding the big wave of the dot-com boom before it crashed."

When she was diagnosed with a rare form of inflammatory breast cancer in 1997, she packed in as many trips with her daughter as her strength permitted, visiting Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, Las Vegas and Disneyland. She also did motivational speaking to raise funds for Camp Kesem, a free summer camp run by Stanford students for children whose parents have died of cancer or are in treatment for the disease, and played an active part in PTA events at Duveneck Elementary School in Palo Alto. The many young friends she made there were frequent visitors to her bedside at home in the final stages of her illness and the room was filled with their pictures and poems for her.

She is survived by her daughter, Kuuleilani; her sisters, Erica Gerard of Los Angeles and Annie Gerard of Newport Beach; brother, Steve Gerard of Cardiff-by-the-Sea; father, Gary Gerard of Emeryville; mother, Betty Gerard of Palo Alto; three nieces and nephews; and her former husband, Benjamin Sanford of Honolulu.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests gifts to the American Cancer Society or Camp Kesem at Stanford, P.O. Box 20526, Stanford, CA 94309.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]