Publication Date: Wednesday Oct 15, 1997

Deaths

Gail P. CoBabe

Gail P. CoBabe, a 12-year Menlo Park resident, died Oct. 3 at home. A native of Chicago, she was a lifelong educator, first teaching primary grades in the Chicago suburb of Glencoe, Ill., and later at Trinity Elementary School in Sharon Heights. For the last 10 years, she privately tutored students throughout the Midpeninsula as well as for the Children's Health Council of Stanford. She is survived by her husband, Peter CoBabe of Menlo Park; a daughter, Debi Skaar of Houston; a son, David CoBabe of Los Gatos; her mother, Minnie Bauer of Lincolnwood, Ill; a brother, Marshal Bauer of Chicago; and a grandson. Friends are invited to attend a memorial service and reception at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, at the Quadrus Conference Center, 2400 Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. Contributions may be made to the Peninsula Children's Center-Zonta, 3880 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303-4716, or to a children's charity of the donor's choice.

Henry Holt

Henry Holt, 63, well-known opera conductor and nephew of the founder of the West Bay Opera, the late Henry Holt, died in Charlottesville, Va., after a long struggle with lymphatic cancer. He conducted four productions for West Bay Opera over the past 35 years, most recently in 1992. In 1962, he conducted a memorable performance of "Il Trovatore" at the Lucie Stern Theatre together with his uncle. Born Heinz Horowitz in Vienna, Austria, he came to America at the age of 4 with his family to escape the Holocaust. He attended the University of Southern California, where he majored in music. He conducted for groups all over the country and also served on the boards and panels of Opera America, the National Opera Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca Ravenshaw of Warrenton, Va.; two stepsons, Kitrin and Devin Colwell of Warrenton, Va.; a sister, Lucy Horwitz of Boston; and a cousin, Nicolette Holt of Palo Alto. Contributions in his memory should be sent to the Utah Festival Opera Educational Program in Logan, Utah, or to the Core Knowledge Foundation in Charlottesville, Va.

Mary W.S. Whitehead

Mary William Samoff Whitehead, 73, a well-known Bay Area quilter and teacher and longtime Menlo Park resident, died Oct. 6 in Redwood City. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she graduated from UCLA with a master's degree and later became a registered physical therapist. She received her teaching credential from Long Beach State and taught all levels from preschool to college in such varied subjects as physical education, Spanish, Russian, math, science and human anatomy. A fourth-generation quilter, she made her first quilt at age 11. She began teaching quilting in the early 1970s, when she volunteered to teach Girl Scout leaders. She continued to teach six to eight classes a week through quilt shops, quilt guilds and adult education programs, and she traveled throughout the western United States giving lectures and workshops on quilting. She was best known locally for her inspiring teaching style as well as for her award-winning quilts. "If a student made a mistake she never criticized--instead she would say something like, 'Look how clever you are to have changed the pattern,'" said Gretchen Nelson of Black Cat Quilts in San Francisco. Her teaching efforts were so effective that she developed a group of followers, some of whom took her classes weekly for up to 15 years. She was an active member of the local quilting community, judging quilts at county fairs and quilt shows. She was an honorary member of the Peninsula Quilters and also belonged to the San Francisco Quilters Guild, who in 1985 nominated her as Quilt Teacher of the Year for Professional Quilter magazine. She is survived by her husband of 44 years, Warren Richard Whitehead; three daughters, Mary Christina Owen of Felton, Sarah Tamsen Whitehead of San Jose and Tracy Ann Whitehead Craig of El Sobrante; and eight grandchildren. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 20, at Valley Presbyterian Church, 945 Portola Road in Portola Valley. Contributions may be made to the Ronald McDonald House, 520 Sand Hill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304 or to the Children's Health Council, 700 Sand Hill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304.



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