Mary Ann Southam (Currie) On January 20, 2020, Mary Ann Southam, age 79, passed away at Sunrise Palo Alto due to complications of liver cancer. She was born in Bagley, Minnesota, to Archibald and Lillian Currie. Due to her father’s rising career as an educator, the family moved to Mahtomedi, Evansville, and Garden City, Minnesota, before relocating, in 1954, to Tustin, California. After grad...

Philip Albert Capin, a long-time resident of Palo Alto, CA, passed away on January 18, 2020 at the age of 63. Phil is survived by his wife, Mandy, and his sons Philip (partner to Kelley), John (partner to Sydney), and Andrew, as well as his two granddaughters, Finley and Camden. He is also survived by his parents, Jerry and Roxanna Barnett, his sisters Leslie Capin (partner to Jayne) and Estrell...

Marilynn Phillips was born June 10, 1921 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She passed away peacefully at Stanford Hospital with her daughter by her side on January 16, 2020. She earned her BA degree from Michigan State University and her Master's degree from Ohio State University, after which she worked as a dietitian at Saginaw General Hospital. She married Russell Cole Phillips in 1946. They moved to Menl...

Mountain View resident Benjamin McKendall died on January 11. He was 89. Loved for his generosity and openness, Benjamin knew the greetings in some two dozen languages. Nothing pleased him more than addressing people in their native tongues, watching their faces light up, and launching conversations that turned them into instant best friends. The eldest of three sons of Benjamin McKendall, ...

On Sunday, January 5, 2020, Rose Ann Sayler, long time dance teacher and Menlo Park resident passed away at the age of 96. She was predeceased by her loving husband, Lewis Sayler and her six siblings. Rose Ann grew up in Oklahoma and it is told she took her first dance class when her older sister did not finish her chores, so RoseAnn was allowed to attend in her place. She loved to dance and left...

Douglas Alden “Doug” Karlson of Palo Alto passed away on January 1, 2020 at age 71. Born in Minneapolis, he attended Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts before matriculating to Stanford University where he earned a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. After finishing his studies Doug settled permanently in California and established a long career as a manufacturing and supply chain m...

James Blackaby, a longtime Palo Alto resident, passed away in Portland, Oregon, on December 31 at the age of 98. Jim was born on November 10, 1921, to Earl and Bertha Kincaid Blackaby and grew up in Ontario, Oregon. In 1939 he attended University of Oregon. He became an ATO and a devoted Ducks fan before transferring to University of Washington to pursue his interest in aerodynamics. At UW he met...

Neil John Jensen, Mountain View resident since 1971, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and has died of complications due to cancer. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Martha Meria, four daughters, Tonya Wellington, Terri Jensen, Teddi Jensen, Gwen Jensen, six grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren and sisters, Arlene Curtis and Marilyn Dougall. He earned a degree in ceramic engineerin...

Rev. Sarah E. "Sally" Brown passed away on December 28, 2019, in Redwood City, California at the age of 96. She was a resident of Palo Alto and Redwood City for 56 years. Sally was born December 20, 1923, in Manila, Philippines, where her mother was a high school principal. Sally had a keen interest in dance and wanted to be a ballet dancer. When World War II broke out in the Pacific, her moth...

Eleanor Jane Rhoades, nee Marcy, passed away peacefully after a short illness, with family by her side. She was born and raised in the rural Sand Hills of Nebraska, where she lived a happy childhood surrounded by loving and supportive parents and siblings. Eleanor moved to Palo Alto California in 1942, ostensibly as a transfer to Stanford University, but at least in part to escape the prairie ...

Fred Dorn, a 35-year resident of East Palo Alto, died on Christmas Day, 2019, of heart failure. Fred was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Houston, Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas with a BA In Anthropology, Fred joined the Peace Corps in 1965 where he met his wife, Midge. He taught English and learned to read and write Thai in a small town in northern Thailand. When ...

Iris Elaine Hughes Bacolini was born on February 24, 1927 in Billings, Montana and later was a Palo Alto resident for 62 years. In 1943, she moved to San Francisco to help with the war effort. Iris met and married Frank Bacolini in June 1946. Iris loved watching Bay Area Sports (the Giants were her favorite), playing cards, and most of all, enjoying time with her grandchildren and great grandch...

Ric, whose given name is Ralph Irving Choplin, Jr., died peacefully at Stanford Hospital on Monday, December 16th 2019. He was 83. Kind, wicked smart, enigmatic, curious and extremely proud of his beloved daughter and grandson, Ric loved a fine turn of phrase, hamburgers + football at the Oasis, well-told stories, British comedy, his friends, and the two women who were his partners in life. Extr...

Darlene Eloise Tell Rutherford was born November 22, 1937 in Turlock California. She passed away peacefully on December 16, 2019. Darlene grew up on a dairy farm in Hilmar, California, and went to both North Park College in Chicago and San Jose State University, earning a bachelor's degree in Nursing. She worked as a public health nurse in Santa Clara County for close to ten years before marrying ...

On Saturday, December 14, 2019, Anne Eastham Lewis passed away at age 83 from progressive dementia. She is survived by her sister Margaret Tavener Eastham, her first husband John Richard Neff, her daughters Linda Neff Sunde and Pamela Lewis Thornton, her sons-in-law Doug Sunde and Tom Thornton, her son John Lewis, Jr., her nephews Thomas and David Dawkins, and her six grandchildren.  Both her par...

David Clark Loudy passed peacefully, surrounded by his family, on December 10, 2019, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was 73 years old. David was born on January 19, 1946 in Oakland, CA to Marjorie Wise Loudy and Francis Howard Loudy. He was raised in San Leandro, CA and attended San Lorenzo High School, graduating in 1963. After graduating from Cal State Hayward in 1968 with a degree in...

Herb Moore, a songwriter, musician, gardener, and friend who embodied the idealism of Palo Alto’s creative community, died on Dec. 5. He was 75. Thoughtful and poetic in an increasingly fast-paced valley, Herb stayed true to more durable values, building community and creating music that was his own blend of bluegrass traditionalism, Grateful Dead reverie, and homespun eccentricity and humor....

On Monday, December 2nd, 2019, Ellis Joseph Alden, loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and uncle, passed away at the age of 80 following a brief illness. Ellis was born on August 8, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Westchester County, New York, and graduated from Dartmouth College and Columbia University Law School. Between college and law schoo...