Issue date: November 03, 1999
Bill Neylan
A Yale graduate and former Navy navigator, Mr. Neylan and his business partner of 25 years, the late Gary Williams, were mainstays in the local advertising scene.
They were co-owners of Wank, Williams and Neylan in Menlo Park, whose clients included many local businesses and government agencies. Among the clients were Round Table Pizza, the Valley Transportation Agency, and numerous restaurants and high-tech companies.
The ad agency worked with many cities and designed the logos for the cities of Menlo Park and Redwood City.
A native of East Orange in New Jersey, Mr. Neylan began his career in advertising sales at the New York Daily News before moving to California in 1950.
From 1950 to 1963, Mr. Neylan was the advertising manager at the Menlo Park Recorder, a weekly community newspaper.
Doug Dupen, former Menlo Park mayor and president of the Chamber of Commrce, said Mr. Neylan helped run Mr. Dupen's first campaign for city council in 1972.
"There was a big hunk of Menlo Park in Bill Neylan," said Mr. Dupen.
For many years, Mr. Neylan's partner Gary Williams was a popular master of ceremonies at the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce annual Golden Acorn Awards dinner, when the Chamber recognizes service to the community and the chamber. Mr. Neylan wrote the script while Mr. Williams ad-libbed the jokes, Mr. Dupen recalls.
In a eulogy at a memorial Mass last week for Mr. Neylan at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Los Altos, longtime Menlo Park appliance dealer Lee Boucher recalled first meeting Mr. Neylan in 1960, when he was advertising manager of the Menlo Park Recorder. Mr. Neylan came up with a unique promotion for the grand opening of Boucher's Appliance store in Menlo Park: Mr. Boucher bought a 3-month-old puppy, and placed it in the display window with a banner that read: "You can win this doggey in the window -- come in and register." The response, said Mr. Boucher, wsas "terrific."
A Los Altos resident, Mr. Neylan was a member of the Menlo Town Club, a men's lunch club.
Family members said he was an avid pilot, sports car racer and enthusiast, and, most recently, a water color artist.
Mr. Neylan met his wife of 51 years, Peggy, while serving in the Navy at the Alameda Naval Air Station in the late 1940s.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Wayne Neylan of Los Altos, Linda Kinoshita of Santa Rosa, and Nancy Christenson of Campbell; a sister, Mary Lou Lucas of Ashland, Oregon; and seven grandchildren.
Arrangements were by John O'Connor's Menlo Colonial Chapel.
@1/2colcap:Joyce Fulton
Joyce Fulton
A dynamic teacher of social studies and government, who won many awards, including San Mateo County Teacher of the Year in 1993-94, she instilled a respect for democracy, diversity and human rights into generations of students, said her friend Jeanne DuPrau.
Born in Panama, Ms. Fulton came to California in 1959 after earning degrees at Smith College and Harvard University. She received a master's degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley and began teaching at Woodside High School in 1959.
This was the era of the civil rights movement, in which she was deeply involved, both in marching with organizations such as CORE and NAACP and in working toward desegregation of her school district. She was one of the key players in the development of the New School at Ravenswood in East Palo Alto and taught at that school for five years. After Ravenswood High School closed, she returned to Woodside High School where she taught until her retirement in 1993. Along with government and social studies, she taught psychology and acted as a work experience counselor, outdoor education counselor and as adopt-a-school coordinator.
In 1964, she won first place in a statewide contest -- and $1,000 -- for teaching the Bill of Rights. In the years that followed, she spoke on the Bill of Rights at conferences and workshops around the state.
She was active in the women's movement and the anti-war movement, and after her retirement was involved with PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). She was the co-founder and co-chair of the San Mateo Country chapter of OLSEN (Gay-Lesbian-Straight Educators Network).
In 1994, California Assembly District 21 chose her for its Woman of the Year Award.
During the nearly two years of her last illness, she was cared for by at least 100 friends who provided day-to-day care, help with cooking, gardening, transportation, and errands, as well as emotional support.
Ms. Fulton is survived by her partner of 20 years, Anne Prescott; step-mother Phyllis Marcy of Thetford Hill, Vermont; three sisters, Eleanor Carpenter of Washington, D.C., Diana Fulton-Manders of Eugene, Oregon, and Barbara Reese of Santa Rosa; brother Barry Fulton of Laguna Beach; step-sister Daisy Lewis of Portland, Oregon; and step-brother Duncan Lewis of Washington, D.C.
Memorials may be sent to The Joyce Fulton Scholarship, sponsored by OLSEN, c/o Steffens, 7 Creekside Dr., Half Moon Bay, CA 94019. A memorial celebrating Ms. Fulton's life will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, November 18. Call 968-7751 for further details.
Mihaly "Mike" Barics
Mr. Barics was born in Felsoszentmarten, Hungary, and received advanced degrees in math and physics before fleeing his native land after the 1956 Hungarian uprising.
Mr. Barics taught in a refugee camp in the former Yugoslavia Republic before being sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences to come to the United States. Mr. Barics received his U.S. citizenship November 22, 1963, one of his proudest days, family members said.
In the United States, Mr. Barics was on a team that developed the heart-lung machine at the Presbyterian Medical Center in San Francisco.
Later, Mr. Barics and his wife Katherine started Mihaly Barics Photography in Menlo Park's Allied Arts Guild.
Family members said Mr. Barics combined his love of his native soccer with his commitment to children when he established the Palo Alto Hawks AYSO soccer team, for several years piloting them to Northern California playoff berths while instilling a sense of sportsmanship, family members said.
Later in life, Mr. Barics pursued a passion for music and taught himself to play the string bass, said family members. He has performed with a local banjo band and the Silicon Gulch Jazz Band for the past several years.
Mr. Barics will be remembered for his love of the simple things in life and his humor, family members said. He is survived by his wife, Katherine; children Paul in Sunnyvale, Sarah in Palo Alto, Katie in Oklahoma, and Robert in Palo Alto; and a grandson Colton in Oklahoma.
Rose Guarnieri
A native of Detroit, Miss Guarnieri worked as a secretary with the National Labor Relations Board for 34 years before retiring.
She was a volunteer at St. Anthony's Padua Dining Room in Menlo Park for 15 years.
Miss Guarnieri is survived by a brother, Victor Guarnieri of Redwood City.
A memorial Mass was celebrated at St. Anthony's Church in Menlo Park on October 25. Arrangements were made by Crippen & Flynn Chapel in Redwood City.
Betty Lee Stone
She was born in 1933 in San Francisco. Her family moved to Salt Iake City in the early 1940s, and lived there for several years before moving to Portland, Oregon.
In 1966, she moved to Sunnyvale, and taught for the Las Lomitas School District in Menlo Park until her retirement in 1988.
In 1992, she moved to Cape Meares, Oregon. Here, she became active in the local community. She served as president of the Tillamook chapter of the American Association of University Women for two years and was serving as treasurer and store manager of the Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse at the time of her death.
She is survived by her brother William E. Dixon of Baker City, Oregon; and her daughters, Pamela Kay Stone of Chicago, and Laura Stone Long and her husband James of Columbia Falls, Montana. The family requests that donations be made to Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse, P.O. 282, Oceanside, Oregon, 97134.
Anne M. Callnon
A school teacher for 30 years and a veteran of World War II, she left New York in 1950 and moved to Palo Alto for her wedding to Gene W. Callnon. Until shortly before her death, she lived in the house she and her husband had built together in 1954 on Old La Honda Road.
She was a librarian at Ormondale School and taught both kids and adults weaving, spinning, and the use of natural dyes. She was a charter member of Trampornas Weaving Guild, an avid reader, gardener and contributor to the AIDS quilt.
Anne is survived by her husband of 48 years Gene W. Callnon, brother Alfred Dorsey, daughter Mary, granddaughter Magnolia, and great-granddaughter Justina. She was at her daughter's home in Washington at the time of her death.
The family plans a memorial service at a later date.
© 1999 The Almanac. All Rights Reserved.