Obituaries Obituaries (October 17, 2001)

Sister Margaret Robinson

Sacred Heart teacher

Sister Margaret Robinson, whose ties to Sacred Heart Schools date back to 1923 when she entered the boarding school at Convent of the Sacred Heart in Menlo Park, died September 27.

A prayer vigil was held in the chapel at the Oakwood residence where she lived on the Sacred Heart campus since her retirement from teaching at St. Joseph's School. Her memorial Mass was held at Oakwood and a prayer service was held in her memory last week on Robinson Court at St. Joseph's School.

Born in 1914 in Carson City, Nevada, Sister Robinson was "home schooled" by her mother in Carson City for the first three grades. Her coming to the convent as a boarder marked the beginning of her first formal school experience. After her graduation from Sacred Heart "Menlo" in 1930, she went on to receive her bachelor of arts degree from Lone Mountain, San Francisco College for Women, in 1934. She then returned to Nevada, where she taught for six years, some of that time in a one-room schoolhouse.

She entered the Society of the Sacred Heart on November 12, 1940. After her first vows in 1943, she returned to Menlo Park to teach. She made her final profession in Rome in February 1949.

Sister Robinson continued her own education and received a master's degree in education from Stanford University in 1950.

Sister Robinson served the Society of the Sacred Heart's educational mission at Sacred Heart's Atherton campus for 52 years, and also taught four years at the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Broadway in San Francisco.

She started teaching the first grade at St. Joseph's School in 1956, and she soon became recognized for her ability to teach children how to read. "If Sister Robinson can't do it, no one can," many said of her.

Sister Robinson retired from St. Joseph's in 1999 after 43 years of continuous service there.

Sister Robinson's work was recognized in October of 2000 when she was presented with the school's St. Madeleine Sophie Medal. Just last month Sister Robinson agreed, in spite of her modest nature, to be interviewed for a video for the school archives. She told some favorite stories of her time on campus. The video was shown for the first time October 14 at the opening of the school's new library.

She is survived by her cousin Margaret M. Duff of San Francisco, and by two nieces and a nephew in other parts of the country.

Sister Robinson requested that she be buried at Sacred Heart, where she spent most of her life.
John Bruce Schoenfeld

Menlo Park podiatrist

John Bruce Schoenfeld, who ran a podiatry practice in Menlo Park for 45 years, died October 5 at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Santa Clara after suffering a stroke at his Mountain View home. He was 77.

A native of Portland, Dr. Schoenfeld moved to California when he was 3.

In 1943, he enlisted in the Navy and served in a Seabees construction battalion in the South Pacific during World War II.

After the war, he returned to the Bay Area, where he obtained a doctorate in podiatric medicine from the San Francisco School of Podiatry. He ran a practice in Menlo Park for 45 years, until he retired in 1994.

Dr. Schoenfeld was active in the Boy Scouts of America (all three of his sons became Eagle Scouts), as well as the Masonic Lodge of Menlo Park.

Stories of Tarzan fascinated Dr. Schoenfeld when he was young, and after visiting Africa several times, he described it as his favorite place in the world, according to his family.

Dr. Schoenfeld is survived by his wife, Merry; his sons, John of Belmont, James and Richard; his sister, Jean of Los Altos; and two grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, October 21, at Unity Palo Alto Community Church, 3391 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

Dr. Schoenfeld had a history of diabetes. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the American Diabetes Association.

Ralph Vaerst

Electronic engineer, executive

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, October 18, at the Colonial Mortuary of Crosby-N. Gray & Co. in Burlingame for Ralph Vaerst, a longtime Atherton resident, who died October 11 in Peninsula Hospital. He was 73.

Private interment will be at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo. Viewing will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, October 17, at the Mortuary Chapel.

Mr. Vaerst, an electronic engineer and executive, is credited with helping popularize the term Silicon Valley. He suggested that writer Don Hoefler use it in a series of articles in Electronic News in 1971.

Mr. Vaerst was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, on November 21, 1927, the only child of Dr. Louis and Mrs. Sarah Vaerst. In 1946 he moved to Holland to finish his engineering studies at the University of Amsterdam.

In 1958 he immigrated to the United States and settled in Boston as an engineer for High Voltage Engineering Corp., a manufacturer of large particle accelerators. In this job he worked with famed physicist Niels Bohr in Denmark.

In 1962 he married Bodil Orbell, the daughter of Frans Orbell, the mayor of a Stockholm suburb. That year they moved to Palo Alto were he was one the first employees of Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC). He worked there until 1968.

In 1970 he was among the founders of Ion Equipment Corp., one of the first companies that attorney Larry Sonsini took public in 1971.

Since then he founded or invested in a variety of companies. With some European partners he was a principal and director of NMS-France, a company that produced electronic displays for the European auto industry. That company was sold to TRW in 1992.

He was also a principal and president of NMS-Switzerland, a company that produced most of the electronic modules for the Swiss watch industry. NMS-Switzerland was sold to a Swiss holding company in 1997.

Until his death, he had been chairman of the board of Borg Instrument, a $200 million company in Germany that produces electronic systems and telematics for the European auto industry.

For the past 20 years he lived in four cities: Atherton, Hillsborough, Paris, and Bastad, Sweden.

He is survived by his wife Bodil; his children Sunna Vaerst, Peter Vaerst and Mary Ann May; and six grandchildren.

William T. Ricktor

Longtime Menlo resident

William T. Ricktor, a longtime resident of Menlo Park, died October 6. He was 61.

Originally from Baltimore, he moved to the Bay Area in 1967. He worked in sales and real estate for most of his life and was currently employed with TheatreWorks. He also served in the U.S. Army.

He is survived by Joyce Miller Ricktor and their son Matthew Ricktor; Mary E. Pimentel and their children, Mark Ricktor and Shelly Ricktor Moglia. He was preceded in death by their son, Thomas Ricktor, in August of this year. He also had two grandchildren, Joseph and Elizabeth Ricktor.

He is remembered by his family and friends for his love of skiing, travel, reading, sports and politics. A memorial service will be announced at a later date, pending the birth of his third grandchild, family members said.

Donations may be made in his memory to the American Red Cross to aid the families of the September 11 tragedy.

Constance 'Connie' Ellis

Allied Arts volunteer

Constance "Connie" Ellis, a Menlo Park resident for 13 years, died on September 11 of a heart attack. She was 84.

A native of Boston, Mrs. Ellis is remembered by her family as an energetic, fun-loving woman who loved to dance and golf. She was a member of St. Raymond's Catholic Church in Menlo Park, Little House senior center in Menlo Park, and the Mid Peninsula Golf Group. She also was a volunteer at Allied Arts Guild.

Mrs. Ellis is survived by a daughter, Jean Rigg of Woodside; a son, John Kelly of Massachusetts; a sister, Dorothy Dingee of Florida; a brother, Edward Di Natoli of New York; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

A memorial service was held October 13 at St. Raymond's. Arrangements were under the direction of the Menlo Park Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries.

The family requests that memorial donations be made to Little House, 800 Middle Ave., Menlo Park, 94025.
Marguerite Barbariol

A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, October 18, at St. Raymond's Catholic Church, 1100 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park, for Marguerite Barbariol of Menlo Park, who died October 13.

Friends are invited to visit with family members on October 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Menlo Park Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries, 650 Live Oak Ave.

A full obituary will be published in next week's Almanac.