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Deaths

Eugene Bulf

Eugene John Bulf, 91, a resident of Palo Alto, died Nov. 30, 2010, after a long struggle with vascular dementia.

Born in 1919 in Clairton, Penn., he moved to California after graduation. He attended San Francisco Junior College for two years and graduated from University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in political science.

He joined the Navy during World War II, working in Naval Air Ordinance in Okalahoma and California. During the war, he married his first wife, Nancy Deering, whom he met while folk dancing. The couple raised three children and lived in Palo Alto, where he worked as a salesman at Werry Electric Shop and volunteered with the Appliance Dealers' Association, Camp Unalayee and Friends of the Library.

Bulf and Deering divorced and he married Mary Suransky Kimball in 1964. The pair attended plays, concerts and ballets and traveled around the United States and abroad, making many friends from around the globe.

He had a lifelong love of music, having taught himself to play accordion as a child, and enjoyed gardening and the arts. Remembered by family for his warmth and willingness to help others, he was an active volunteer with the Stanford International Center, the Environmental Volunteers and Jasper Ridge Stanford Biological Preserve.

He is survived by his wife Mary of Palo Alto; his three children Jeff, Ellen and Carolyn; one granddaughter Laura; and many nieces and nephews. Friends and family attended a celebration of his life in January.

Donations in his memory may be made to Jasper Ridge or Environmental Volunteers, his wife said.