Deaths Deaths (February 16, 2005)

Agnes Berg

Agnes Ely Berg, 77, who was born and raised in Palo Alto, died Feb. 4.

She was born Jan. 7, 1928, in Palo Alto. She attended San Jose State College and earned her nursing degree at St. Luke's in San Francisco. She was a surgical nurse at Sutter Memorial Hospital for 30 years. She also worked at The Plastic Surgery Center.

She completed the Master Gardener program, and volunteered at the Sacramento Zoo as a docent, the Society for the Blind, and the PTA at Sutterville School. With her longtime music group, she sang for residents at nursing facilities. She was a consummate believer in everyone giving back to the community.

She is survived by her longtime companion, Kingsley Roberts of Sacramento; son, Mark Berg, and daughter-in-law, Patty, of Sacramento; daughter, Lisa Berg, and life partner, Elaine Hoffman, of Sacramento; daughter, Jessica Dafalia, and Gale Fairchild, of Sacramento; and two grandchildren. She also is survived by her brother, Leonard Ely; sister-in-law, Shirley Ely; sister, Jessica Hart; sister-in-law, Bernice M. Ely; and a wide circle of friends.

A memorial service has been held. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Society.

Monica Chodur

Monica Rose Chodur, 52, a 16-year resident of Palo Alto, died Feb. 5 from cancer.

Born in Iowa on April 23, 1952, she moved to California in 1970. She graduated with a teaching credential from San Diego State University. She spent many years in corporate sales for the entertainment industry at Paramount's Great America and Six Flags Marine World.

She enjoyed gardening, writing and spending time with loved ones. She also liked reading, traveling and art, which reflected her multicultural interests.

She is survived by her husband, Bill Empey of Palo Alto; stepdaughter, Lauren Empey of San Diego; mother and stepfather, Madonna and Eugene Kirschbaum of Mason City, Iowa; her siblings, Sheila Dennis, Jennifer Eskildsen, Dennis Chodur and Joseph Chodur all of Mason City, Iowa; Renee Agnew of Bethesda, Md.; Jovita Parker of Lakeland, Fla.; and Philip Chodur, Barbara Behne, Cathie Norris, Nancy Chodur-Dow and Mary Chodur of San Diego County; and 17 nieces and nephews.

Private family services will be held at a later date.

Jeanne Farwell

Jeanne Viola Rouse Farwell, 90, died Feb. 5 in Mountain View after a brief illness.

She was born in Oakland, Calif., in 1914. Her grandfather and father were both Bay Area natives and owned the W.A. Rouse Produce Company in Oakland.

She attended a private girl's school, then called Anna Head's, and later city college in Santa Barbara. During World War II, she worked as a travel agent at Union Square in San Francisco. She made travel arrangements for allied soldiers from all over the world and experienced several blackouts when the city was threatened by air attacks.

In 1943 she married George Boynton Farwell, who owned a rubber company and later became a vice president for Goodyear Tire and Rubber in San Francisco. The couple lived in the Oakland hills, where they had three children.

She always wanted to live on the Peninsula, because she remembered happy trips to Menlo Park with her father who visited farmers there for his business. In 1952, she moved to Menlo Park and then to Atherton.

She was a gracious hostess, dedicated gardener and expert in sewing and knitting. In their later years, she and her husband enjoyed traveling, golf, bird watching and their grandsons.

She is survived by her son, David Farwell of Santa Clara; daughter, Linda Farwell of Palo Alto; two grandsons and four great-grandchildren.

Dr. Donald Zimmerman

Dr. Donald C. Zimmerman, 77, of Blacklake Village, Calif., died Jan. 21 of a heart attack. He was a well-known oral surgeon and professor in the Bay Area.

He started private practice in Palo Alto in 1958. He also was a clinical assistant professor of surgery at Stanford University and, after stopping full-time practice in 1988, an associate clinical professor at the University of the Pacific's Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco. He retired to the Central Coast in 1994.

Author or co-author of numerous scholarly papers, he was the recipient in 1976 of the Cogswell Distinguished Service award for fostering excellence in oral surgery in western U.S. communities. He was a fellow of the American College of Dentists, a member of the American Society of Oral Surgeons, and a past president of the Mid-Peninsula Dental Society.

He was born in Los Angeles and raised in Pasadena, attending local schools and graduating from The Cate School in Carpinteria in 1945. He joined the U.S. Navy at 17, and served in World War II on board the USS Stentor, a landing craft repair ship.

In 1950, he graduated from Pomona College, where he was a cheerleader and member of the football, track and swimming teams. In 1954, he received his doctor of dental surgery degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco. He was subsequently appointed a resident fellow at the University of Minnesota's Mayo Foundation, from which he received a master's of science degree in 1957.

He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Elizabeth; two daughters from his first marriage, Jane Ettinger of South Pasadena and Ann Kerm of Palo Alto; stepson, Mark Tuthill of San Francisco; stepdaughter, Cynthia Tuthill of Menlo Park; stepdaughter, Kathryn Thome of Hollister; and eight grandchildren and step-grandchildren.

Services have been held. Memorial donations may be made to The American Heart Association.

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