November 16, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Deaths

Kenneth R. (Ken) Yimm, who for more than 20 years photographically chronicled the Palo Alto area for the former Palo Alto Times/Peninsula Times-Tribune, died in his sleep Friday at his home in Pollock Pines in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Yimm, 77, who retired in the mid-1980s from the Times-Tribune, had in recent years taken occasional photos for the Mountain Democrat in El Dorado County, despite suffering from a continuing heart condition.

He had won numerous statewide awards for his photography, and in 2001 a retrospection exhibit of his work was held at Gallery El Dorado. He also enjoyed buying, selling and swapping camera equipment as a retirement hobby.

Yimm was hired by the former Palo Alto Times in 1963, where he worked with fellow photographers Gene Tupper and, later, Joe Melena. Jim Gallagher worked with Yimm as an editor with the Times' sister paper, the Redwood City Tribune, and said he was regarded as "one of Northern California's most gifted news photographers during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s."

Ron Goben, a former city editor who worked with Yimm for many years, said in addition to Yimm's technical and professional skill he was "one of those rare individuals who didn't have an enemy in the world. I've never met anyone who didn't like Ken."

Yimm was proud of the fact that he had taken photos of all the presidents since Dwight D. Eisenhower.

He also took the famous photo of a college football player walking down a hospital hallway holding the hand of a small girl -- which for years was the poster photo for the annual East-West Shrine Game.

He was born in 1928 in Bakersfield, Calif., but moved to Oakland with his family. He received an AA degree from the City College of San Francisco, then went into the U.S. Army in 1950, where he worked in the Presidio photo lab until his discharge in 1952.

Yimm then worked for United Press (not yet UPI) and then at the San Francisco News prior to it becoming the News Call Bulletin. He joined the Palo Alto Times' staff in 1963 -- the same year he and his wife, Judy, were married.

They moved to El Dorado County in 1988. Yimm also is survived by their daughter, Lisa, of San Francisco.

A celebration of Yimm's life will be held Sunday, Nov. 20, from 1 to 3 p.m., at the Gallery El Dorado, 6180 Pleasant Valley Road, El Dorado. The family requests that those wishing to memorialize Yimm's life make donations to the donor's favorite charity.

Bill Baumgartner

Bill Baumgartner, 59, a longtime former resident of Palo Alto, died Sept. 21.

He was born April 24, 1946, and moved to the Peninsula from Chicago, Ill., where he had received a bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University in late 1969. He lived in Palo Alto beginning in 1972.

He worked extensively with disturbed adolescents in a Palo Alto residential treatment center and was actively involved in the peace movement. He was married at that time to Sandra Lynn Baumgartner (now Sandra Lloyd). In 1973, his only child, a son, Jesse, was born at Stanford Hospital.

He continued to live in the Palo Alto area through the late 1980s. His occupation turned to carpentry, and his love of building and creating homes continued until his death. He maintained many close friendships with people who still reside in the Palo Alto area.

After living in Brazil and Florida, he returned the Bay Area. The last two years he had been residing in Atascadero with his wife of almost 30 years, Barbara Best. He was involved in teaching members of the surrounding community to build their own homes.

He is survived by his son Jesse; his four siblings; his former wife, Sandra, and his current wife, Barbara Best. A Quaker Memorial was held Oct. 8.

In appreciation of his lifelong work as a humanitarian and peace activist, memorial donations may be sent to Sojourn, Inc., attn: Marya Malinowski, 625 So. McClelland St., Santa Maria, CA 93454.

Gordon A. Craig

Professor Gordon A. Craig, 91, an internationally renown historian of Germany, died Oct. 30 of heart failure at the Sequoias nursing facility in Portola Valley.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1913, he emigrated with his family to New Jersey in 1925. He attended Balliol College at Oxford University for two years on a Rhodes scholarship. During World War II he served as a political analyst for the Office of Strategic Services and also served as the captain in the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the Air Force Academy and the Historical Division of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Craig, the J.E. Wallace Sterling professor emeritus of humanities, taught on the Stanford campus from 1961 until his retirement in 1979. He began his academic career at Yale University in 1939 but moved in 1941 to Princeton University, where he taught until Stanford recruited him following a sabbatical at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences during the 1956-57 academic year.

He is credited with being among a handful of people, such as David Potter and Gordon Wright, who remade the History department and helped elevate Stanford from a good local university to a great national university.

He was highly regarded for his numerous books and articles. He was a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. He served as chair of the History department from 1972-75 and 1978-79, and was widely credited with strengthening the university's undergraduate and graduate teaching programs.

In 1973 he received the Dinkelspiel Award for Outstanding Service to Undergraduate Education. He also chaired the Faculty Senate for a term in 1974. He was a member of the prestigious Pour le Merite Order of Germany and served as president of the American Historical Association.

He is survived by his wife, Phyllis Craig of Portola Valley; his sister, Jean Clarke of Ontario, Canada; his daughters, Deborah Preston of Los Altos Hills, Susan Craig of Pasadena and Martha Craig of Peoria, Ill.; a son, Charles Craig of South Pasadena; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on campus in early 2006. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in his honor to a charity of choice.

Alexander Lee Curyea

Alexander Lee Curyea, 35, a longtime former resident of Palo Alto, died Oct. 30 in San Jose.

He was born Sept. 15, 1970, in Santa Clara to Douglas and Linda Curyea. They raised him in Palo Alto, where he became an Eagle Scout under Boy Scout Troop 55, participated on the swim and water polo teams at Palo Alto High School, and enjoyed scuba diving and photography.

After graduating in 1988, he attended Chico State University, where he was a photographer for the Chico Orion. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

He subsequently returned to Palo Alto, helping open the first Starbucks Coffee shop on University Avenue. Over the last five years of his life, he worked in public relations as an account manager at FutureWorks, Inc. in San Jose.

He will be remembered for his varied interests, which included golf, media, politics and traveling to New York. He is survived by his parents; his brother and sister-in-law, Stuart and Michelle Curyea of Burlingame; his aunt and uncle, Nina and Michael Kaping of Aptos; his uncle and aunt, Burt and Lenore Curyea of San Jose; and his cousin, Brent Crenna-Kaping of Freedom, Calif.

A private memorial service will be held Nov. 20, followed by a private sea burial in December. Donations in his honor may be made to the Rachel Austin Prize Fund at Palo Alto High School or the Boy Scouts of America.

James Walden Kennedy

James Walden "Jim" Kennedy, 65, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died in his home Oct. 5 after a bout with liver cancer.

He was born in Boston, Mass., in 1940, but grew up in California. He graduated from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and served a stint in the Peace Corps from 1962 to 1964, where he taught K-12 students in Liberia. There he met his first wife of 30 years, Geraldine Markos of Los Angeles, with whom he later started a small publishing company called Clover Park Press.

He started his professional career in Southern California, where he lived most of his life, earning a master's degree in film production at the University of California, Los Angeles. From 1984 to 1992, he lent his talent to documentary work for Los Angeles television stations KCET and KCBS. The documentaries he produced highlighted the plight of marginalized segments of society and earned him six Emmy awards and a Columbia-Dupont Journalism Award for his work with the KCBS investigations team.

He eventually retired from television work after being afflicted with hepatitis C and became a volunteer for a hospice. It was around this time that he served on the board of the California Council of the Humanities, through which he met his second wife, Suzanne Abel, the founding director of the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah. A year after she moved to Palo Alto, he followed in 1995.

He continued to volunteer through Pathways Home and Hospice, going to the houses of the terminally ill and helping them in any way. At San Jose State University, he earned a second master's degree in the field of social work and served out the rest of his life as a bereavement counselor for families and individuals who had just lost friends or family members.

He enjoyed going out with his wife to watch movies, keeping in touch with current events, reading books, traveling and tuning in to an eclectic array of music. He had an affinity for the blues, bluegrass and world music.

Along with his wife he is survived by his sons, Alex Kennedy of Caracas, Venezuela, and Peter Kennedy of Los Angeles; a daughter, Laura Kennedy of San Diego; a stepdaughter, Marina Vidor of London; two sisters, Marianna Kennedy of Albuquerque, N.M., and Katy Kennedy of Portland, Maine; and his mother, Nancy Kennedy of Santa Barbara.

A memorial service will be held Dec. 10 at 1 p.m. at the Lucie Stern Community Center. Those wishing to make donations may give them to Friends of Liberia, 4300 16th St. NW, Washington D.C., 20011; or to Pathways Home Health & Hospice, 585 N. Mary Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94085. For additional information about the memorial, e-mail jwkmemorial@yahoo.com.

Andy Kline

Sergeant Andy Kline, 47, died at his Menlo Park home Nov. 2 after a courageous battle with cancer.

A 23-year veteran of the Menlo Park Police Department, he was born in Palo Alto and raised in Menlo Park. He attended Ravenswood High School in East Palo Alto as part of a voluntary desegregation program and graduated with a bachelor's degree from Menlo College in Atherton.

He became a Menlo Park police officer in 1980 after beginning his career with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office as a reserve deputy. He worked as a field training officer, traffic officer, detective, hostage negotiator and range instructor before being promoted to sergeant in July 2001. He also worked as a swing-shift patrol sergeant and was in charge of the Menlo Park Police Department's hostage negotiators, SWAT and canine officers.

He received numerous commendations for his leadership ability. When not with his Menlo Park police family, he could be found at SBC Park, as he was an avid fan of the San Francisco Giants.

He is survived by his wife of 19 years, Rebecca Phillips-Kline; his mother, Jeanne; his brother, Jon; and his sister, Kathy.

Memorial services were held Nov. 5 at the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. Memorial donations may be sent to the Menlo Park Police Foundation, 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025, Tax ID# 74-3139023.

Dr. Howard Milne

Dr. Howard Milne, 84, a longtime resident of Palo Alto and a local psychiatrist, died peacefully Oct. 11 in Cupertino.

Born on Christmas Day, 1920, in Grand Junction, Colo., he graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he met his future wife, Jane Austin, and then from Northwestern University Medical School, which he attended on a Navy scholarship.

In the summer of 1945 he was deployed to the Pacific Theater as a Navy doctor on a minesweeper, which was among the first American ships to reach Hiroshima after the bombing.

After five years of practicing family medicine as the only doctor in a small Colorado town, he entered the psychiatry residency program at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kan. He was recalled to active naval duty in 1951 as the resident psychiatrist at the San Diego Naval Base during the Korean War.

In 1957 he moved with his family to Palo Alto and established a private psychiatric practice at Twin Pines Psychiatric Hospital in Belmont (now Belmont Hills Hospital), where he worked until his retirement in 1985. He was also a member of the clinical staff at Stanford University Medical Center for many years, where he was a respected mentor and teacher to many psychiatric residents.

In 1992 he and Jane, his wife of more than 50 years, moved from their longtime Palo Alto home to the Forum retirement community in Cupertino, where he lived happily until his death. He will be remembered for his mind, gentle demeanor, and humility, and his love of his family, a good book, a challenging golf course and all things Scottish.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Jane Austin Milne, who died in 1995, and his daughter, Maggie Milne Falke, who died in 1990. He is survived by his daughters, Nancy MacKay of Oakland and Elizabeth Milne Baum of Palo Alto; and six grandchildren.

At his request, no services were held. However, it would be a tribute to his memory if friends and family members would play a round of golf or peruse the shelves at Kepler's bookstore in his honor, as these were two of his most cherished lifelong pastimes, which he was always eager to share with others.

Memorial donations may be made to Castilleja School's Global Community Service Project, 1310 Bryant St., Palo Alto, CA 94301; or Doctors Without Borders at www.doctorswithoutborders.org.

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