Deaths Deaths (December 29, 2004)

Kathleen Fisher

Kathleen M. "Kay" Fisher, who lived in Menlo Park for 52 years, died Dec. 1 at Stanford Medical Center at age 89. She died of natural causes, although she fought Parkinson's disease for more than 20 years, family members said.

Fisher was born is Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1940 she married Weston C. Fisher. They moved to the United States in 1952.

Fisher was a founding member of the Palo Alto Golf and Country Club, and was a volunteer with the Menertons and the Stanford Mothers' Club. She enjoyed homemaking, foreign travel, reading, painting and spending time with her family, family members said.

Fisher is survived by her husband, Weston C. Fisher of Menlo Park; son Weston A. Fisher of Stow, Mass.; brother James E. Beardall of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; two grandchildren; nephew Robert G. Stewart of San Francisco; and niece Patricia McNeely of Fair Oaks.
Eva Di Luzio

Eva Socker Di Luzio, 96, a former schoolteacher, died Dec. 18 in Stanford.

She was born on Christmas Day in Hazelton, Penn., in 1907 to Alex and Anna Socker. She had one brother and four sisters. She married Daniel A. Di Luzio and had one daughter, Geneva.

She went to Kutztown University in Kutztown, Penn., and earned an associate's degree in Elementary Teaching, and later attended Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, and received a bachelor's degree in Education.

She finally became an elementary school teacher for McAdoo, Penn., public schools and Painesville, Ohio, public schools, where together she taught for more than 50 years. She was a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Palo Alto.

She enjoyed reading and music. She was an avid supporter of educational activities to promote literacy for children and adults.

She is survived by her daughter, Geneva D. Haertel; and two sisters, Helen Jupina and Julia Medalis.

Memorial services and burial will be private.
Rodney Kennedy-Minott

Rodney Glisan Kennedy-Minott, 76, a longtime member of the Stanford community, distinguished Northern California scholar, former U.S. Ambassador and Democratic Party activist, died Dec. 15 in Monterey.

He died in his sleep, surrounded by his three children.

Until his retirement in 2002, he had been a senior lecturer in National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and had served as acting chair there from 1991-93. He was also a senior research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution where he specialized in international relations and U.S. history.

Known for his wit, charm and intellect, he was a former U.S. Ambassador to Sweden. He had a special interest in Northern European and Far North security issues, environmental diplomacy and environmental security.

Born June 1, 1928, in Portland, Ore., he attended Middlesex School in Concord, Mass., from 1942-46. In 1946, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in Japan as part of the American occupation force following World War II. He served in the Army until 1953.

He served as both an assistant professor at Stanford University and assistant director of Stanford's Western Civilization Program. He was director of Stanford's Summer Session from 1960-65.

He was Ambassador to Sweden from 1977-80. He was judged by Nobel Prize winners Gunnar Myrdal and Alva Myrdal as the most effective and successful U.S. Ambassador to Sweden in more than 20 years, and was credited with helping to heal U.S.-Swedish relations, which had suffered a period of bitter estrangement created by the Vietnam War.

In 1993 he was selected by the U.S. Navy to initiate an interdisciplinary curriculum at the Naval Postgraduate School developing expertise in the naval line of officers as managers of military environment issues and problems. He also established a Naval Service Foreign Area Specialists Program to educate and train Navy and Marine officers to be diplomatic staff members in U.S. embassies abroad. He also directed both an Environmental Security Program at the Naval Postgraduate School and the Foreign Area Officer's Program, educating officers to be military diplomats.

Over the years, he also authored several books including "The Sinking of the Lollipop: Pete McCloskey versus Shirley Temple and the Politics of California Suburbia," "Peerless Patriots: The Organized Veteran and the Spirit of Americanism" and "The Fortress That Never Was: The Myth of Hitler's Bavarian Redoubt." He also published a number of scholarly essays on Nordic security matters.

He is survived by his three children, Katharine Pardow Minott, Rodney Glisan Minott, Jr., and Polly Berry Kennedy-Minott; and two grandchildren, all of whom live in Northern California. His former wife, Polly Berry Kennedy, died in 1997. For memorial service information please contact the Mount Tamalpais Cemetery, San Rafael, California, phone: (415) 459-2500.

Memorial donations may be made to the United Nations Children's Fund, 333 East 38th St., New York, NY 10016; Habitat for Humanity International, 121 Habitat St., Americus, GA 31709-3498; or Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, 23625 Holman Highway, P.O. Box HH, Monterey, CA 93942.

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