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Deaths

Anuj Mohan

Anuj Mohan, 30, died June 11 at El Camino Hospital of complications related to a near-drowning swimming accident. He was a Mountain View resident.

Born in 1976, he spent his first few years in Florida and Michigan, moving to India with his family in 1985. With the discipline and determination he would consistently display throughout his life, he blossomed into a star pupil, champion debater, gifted athlete and, most importantly, cherished friend during his years at St. Francis School in Lucknow, India, his loved ones said.

He returned to the United States in 1994 to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science and electrical engineering, respectively. At MIT, he pledged the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, played on MITís baseball team and published two papers on machine learning and artificial intelligence in peer-reviewed journals.

After graduating, he headed to Silicon Valley to join KANA Communications and rode the dotcom roller coaster for six years, quickly becoming a mentor to employees in offices around the world. Outside of work, he founded the Software Entrepreneurship Lecture Series for the 8,000-member MIT Alumni Club of Northern California.

In 2005, he decided to pursue an MBA at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In May, he completed his first year and earned a spot on the Directorís List while cultivating relationships with fellow students and faculty, becoming President of the Entrepreneurship Club, and regularly competing on the soccer field.

But ěNuji,î as he was known by those who loved him, is best remembered for his kindness and humility, his family recalled. He was a person of uncompromising integrity and sincerity. When his father was diagnosed with kidney failure, he broke down bureaucratic barriers so his parents could immigrate back to the United States, and quickly secured the medical care his father needed and eventually leading to a transplant.

He is survived by his parents, Dr. Deepa Mohan and Dr. Aditiya Mohan of Mountain View; and his brother Neal Mohan and sister-in-law, Hema Sareen Mohan, of Mountain View; and his brother Kapil Mohan of Los Angeles.

The family has established a scholarship fund in Anujís name to help Bay Area students from families of modest means to attend MIT and Wharton. For more information, please visit www.anujmohan.com or send contributions to The Anuj Mohan Scholarship Fund, 2400 W. El Camino Real, #419, Mountain View, CA 94040.

Raymond D. Giraud

Raymond D. Giraud, 85, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died June 17 after a long illness.

A Stanford Emeritus Professor of French literature and a human- and animal-rights activist, he was born in New York City in 1920 and was the eldest of five children. He obtained his bachelor's degree from the City College of New York in 1941 and also served in the United States Army in WWII, where his fluency in French was particularly helpful to the war effort. In 1948, he married his wife, Lise, an Austrian refugee.

A year later he received a master's degree from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from Yale University in 1954. An expert in 19th century French literature, he was bestowed numerous academic honors over the course of his life. He published The Unheroic Hero in the Novels of Stendhal, Balzac and Flaubert in 1957, was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1961, and in 1967 was decorated by the French Acadamie as a Chevalier, Ordre des Palmes Academique.

After several years as an instructor at Yale, he joined the Stanford University faculty in the Department of French and Italian in 1958. There he was appointed professor in 1962 and remained in that position until he accepted emeritus status in 1986. Meanwhile, his wife, Lise, had become a principal librarian for the university.

Starting in the early 1960s, the couple became vocal critics of U.S. government policies in Vietnam and elsewhere. They actively supported various student protest movements at Stanford during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the nascent union movement there.

In later years, they both worked for human rights in other countries. Over the course of the 1990s and early 2000, they traveled to Haiti on several occasions to witness elections and otherwise support the democratic movements there. Their home in Palo Alto was often a gathering place for events marking various human-rights activities. They also devoted much of their time to animal-rights initiatives, picketing circuses and rodeos in protest of cruel treatment toward animals.

Raymond served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Palo Alto Humane Society and co-director of education for the In Defense of Animals organization. In 1999, he and his wife were given the Humanitarians of the Year Award by the Marin Humane Society.

He is survived by his wife, Lise Giraud of Palo Alto.

A celebration service will be held in July on a date to be announced.

Mary A. Orrok

Mary A. Orrok, 82, a 12-year resident of Palo Alto, died June 19 from complications following hip surgery.

She was born on August 19, 1923 and lived most of her life in Brooklyn, N.Y., where most of her extended family still lives. Her first husband, Richard, a pilot, died in WWII, and her second husband, Charles, died in 1972.

She enjoyed being with children and family and liked word games such as crossword puzzles and Scrabble, loved ones recalled.

She is survived by her daughter, Marianne Witscher of Palo Alto; two grandchildren; and six great grandchildren.

A memorial service was held at All Saintsí Church in downtown Palo Alto.

Gladyne McLean Reed

Gladyne McLean Reed, 90, died June 15 in Menlo Park.

A proud fifth-generation Texan, she had lived in Palo Alto since 1987. After attending the University of Texas at Austin, she went on to dedicate her life to various reform initiatives. She was active in Head Start, a national school-readiness program that assists three- and four-year-old children from low-income families, as well as nursing home reform. She also loved ballroom dancing, loved ones recalled.

She is survived by her daughter, Roberta Ling of Palo Alto; brothers, Sterling McLean of Palo Alto and Malcolm McLean of Georgetown, Texas.

A burial was held June 23 at Salado City Cemetery in Texas.

Charles P. Stewart

Charles P. Stewart, 87, died of natural causes at his Portola Valley home on June 21.

He was a native of Chicago and a graduate of the University of Illinois, where he earned a degree in architecture. In 1956, he and his family moved to California where, as a member of the American Institute of Architects, he worked for Owings, Skidmore and Merrill for many years. Upon retirement, he volunteered as a docent at Filoli Gardens and enjoyed membership in the Portola Valley Garden Club.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Grace Stewart, and his youngest son, Bill Stewart. He is survived by his son Chuck Stewart, daughter-in-law Johanna Stewart and granddaughter Julia Stewart of San Juan Bautista.