Obituaries Obituaries (July 23, 2003)

Jane Davenport Fairbank

Pioneer for women in physics

A memorial service for Jane Davenport Fairbank, a pioneer for women in physics, editor and resident of Ladera since 1959, will be held on Saturday, June 26, at 10 a.m. in Ladera Community Church, 3300 Alpine Road, Portola Valley.

Mrs. Fairbank died July 1 at Channing House, a retirement residence in Palo Alto. She was born August 21, 1918, in Seattle, Washington.

She was one of the first women to do graduate work in physics at the University of Washington after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Whitman College with a degree in chemistry and physics.

After the outbreak of World War II, she and her husband, William Martin Fairbank, were summoned to join the war effort and develop ship-borne radar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Radiation Laboratory in Cambridge. Mrs. Fairbank was the second woman scientist employed at the laboratory.

Her husband, who became a professor of physics at Stanford University in 1959, made seminal discoveries in low-temperature physics. He is most known for the discovery of quantized flux in superconductors. He died in 1989.

Following the war, Mrs. Fairbank retired from active physics research and devoted her life to her family. "She always maintained that her [three] sons were her greatest accomplishment," said son William Fairbank Jr., professor of physics at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Her third career was as an editor and conference organizer. She co-edited two volumes of "Second Careers for Women" in 1971 and 1975 and "Near Zero, New Frontiers of Physics," which was published in her husband's honor in 1988. Earlier, she edited the two-volume "Radar Maintenance Manual" in 1945.

Known for her keen intellect and inquiring mind, Mrs. Fairbank was a founding member of the Bay Area Consortium on the Educational Needs of Women. She also took an active role in community service, including serving as president of the Stanford University Women's Club and also president of the Woodside PTA. For many years, she served as the official starter for the Fairbank Memorial Run/Walk/Bike event, held annually at Stanford in memory of her husband.

Mrs. Fairbank, who met her future husband as a student at Whitman College, received the college's Gordon Scribner Award for Distinguished Service to Whitman in 1990. She was a founder of the Senior Alumni College at Whitman in 1985 and organized its programs for a decade.

She had a special interest in the study of antiquities. With her husband and friends, she traveled to many sites of ancient civilizations, including Peru, Greece, Egypt, China and Persia, and wrote detailed letters describing her experiences.

Mrs. Fairbank is survived by her three sons, William Fairbank Jr. of Fort Collins, Robert Harold Fairbank of Pacific Palisades, and Richard Dana Fairbank of McLean, Virginia; her brother Harold Edwin Davenport Jr. of Seattle; and 13 grandchildren.

The family suggests sending remembrances to her sons at 1712 Clearview Court, Fort Collins, CO 80521.

Memorial gifts may be made to: the Jane Davenport Fairbank and Harold and Mildred F. Davenport endowment fund for the acquisition and maintenance of science equipment at Whitman College, attention Development Office, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362 or to the William M. and Jane D. Fairbank Fund, No. 353F125, for postdoctoral fellowship support in physics at Stanford University, attention: Memorial Gifts, 326 Galvez St. Stanford, CA 94305-6105.

Stanley Sinclair Buzzell

Longtime Menlo Park resident

Stanley Sinclair Buzzell, a Menlo Park resident for 57 years, died July 11 at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City. He was 82.

Born in Maiden, Massachusetts, in 1920, Mr. Buzzell served in World War II and later worked as a cabinet maker. Even when he was older, he was determined to lead an active life, enjoying daily walks, gardening, stamp collecting; building model railroads, and studying genealogy, family members said.

Mr. Buzzell is survived by his daughters Linda Buzzell, Leslie Keehn and Debbie Sandino; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Memorial services were held Thursday, July 17, at the Menlo Park Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries, followed by a private burial at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto.

John D. Beatty

Toy representative

John D. Beatty of Menlo Park died July 14 at the age of 76.

Born in Oak Park, Illinois, and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mr. Beatty served in the U.S. Navy and attended Dartmouth College.

In 1959, he moved to California and founded the sales representative company of Sylvester and Beatty. He joined the Little Tikes Toy Co. as a West Coast regional representative in 1983, and retired in 1990.

In his later years, Mr. Beatty enjoyed traveling and playing golf with his wife and friends, family members said.

He is survived by his wife, Marilee; daughters Tracy Todd, Nancy Noble, Jill Morehead and Susan Beatty; a son, John Hites; his brother, Herbert; and eight grandchildren.

Memorial services were held July 18 at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.

David A. Baerncopf

Longtime Menlo Park resident

David A. Baerncopf died July 17 at his residence in Menlo Park. He was 81.

Born in Indianapolis, Mr. Baerncopf earned his Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University. He lived in Menlo Park for many years and was an avid participant in his local bridge club.

He is survived by his wife Gloria; daughter Dayna Lucas; son David Baerncopf Jr.; and five grandchildren.

Private services were held at the Congregation Beth Am. Donations may be made to the Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94023; the Peninsula Humane Society, 12 Airport Blvd, San Mateo, CA 94401, or a charity of choice. Arrangements are under the direction of Roller Hapgood Tinney Funeral Home in Palo Alto.

Nathaniel Hawthorne Brooks Sr.

Educator, civil rights activist

Nathaniel Hawthorne Brooks Sr., educator, civil rights activist and Menlo Park resident, was remembered by family and friends at his funeral service June 23 in St. John Missionary Baptist Church, East Palo Alto.

After battling heart disease for the past five and a half years, Mr. Brooks died of cardiopulmonary arrest June 16 at Stanford Medical Center. He was born in Genoa, Arkansas, 80 years ago.

In 1966, when he was hired as vice principal of the former Ravenswood High School in East Palo Alto, Mr. Brooks became the Sequoia Union High School District's first African-American administrator.

Two years later, he became the first African-American high school principal in San Francisco when he took the top job at Polytechnic High School, where he initiated and directed the school's black studies program.

Mr. Brooks returned to the Sequoia district in 1969, serving as vice principal at Menlo-Atherton High School and later at Woodside High School until his retirement from public schools in 1982.

He kept strong ties with his former students, several of whom spoke at the service of their relationship with Mr. Brooks and his influence on their lives. One of the speakers was Rex Fortune, a student at Ravenswood High, who retired last month as a district superintendent in the Sacramento area.

Mr. Brooks and his wife Juanita lived for 36 years in Menlo Park, where they raised their family and participated in school and community activities. He was board president of the Ravenswood City School District, and a member of Menlo Park's Parks and Recreation Commission, the South San Mateo County NAACP, and the UC Berkeley Black Alumni Association.

Each of his three children graduated from one of the Sequoia district's high schools where their father was a vice principal. Son Nathaniel Hawthorne Brooks Jr., a graduate of the former Ravenswood High School, is a manager of Longs Drugs in the Sacramento area. Renel Brooks-Moon, a Woodside High graduate, is the public address announcer for the San Francisco Giants' home games. She also has a radio program, called "Renel on the Mornings," heard on KISS/FM, 98.1. Dr. Daphne Ann Brooks, a Menlo-Atherton graduate, is professor of English literature at Princeton University.

Mr. Brooks began his career in education as a teacher and head football coach at Yerger High School in Hope, Arkansas. He graduated in 1948 from Arkansas AM&N College in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he played on the football team, sang in the choir and majored in social sciences.

His college education was interrupted by World War II, and he served as a staff sergeant in the Pacific Theater from 1943 to 1946.

He and his bride, teacher Juanita Kathryn Watson, moved in 1950 to Berkeley, where he had begun studying for advanced degrees. He received an additional bachelor's degree, this one in history, in 1951 and a master's degree in education in 1964, both from the UC Berkeley.

Returning to public school classrooms in 1951, Mr. Brooks taught in the Richmond school district at the secondary level. He also organized and directed an evening study hall to help students in the predominantly low-income area with their homework and science projects.

He was awarded a National Science Foundation grant in mathematics to attend a summer program at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.

In 1982, Mr. Brooks became director of MESA (Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement) Program at Stanford University, and he held that post for five years. The program provides academic help for high-achieving African-American and Hispanic students at 150 high schools in California.

Mr. Brooks was a consultant to educational programs and served on committees that worked to create opportunities for people of color. In his later years, he became a member of the Menlo Park Senior Center and Rosener House, and he joined St. John Baptist Church in 1994.

Mr. Brooks is survived by his wife of 53 years, Juanita; son Nathaniel Hawthorne Brooks Jr. of Sacramento; two daughters, Renel Brooks-Moon of San Francisco and Dr. Daphne Ann Brooks of Princeton, New Jersey; sister Lodelle Matthews of Berkeley; five grandchildren; and one great grandchild.

Memorial contributions to the United Negro College Fund and/or the American Heart Association may be sent to the Nat Brooks Memorial Trust, in care of the law office of Michael Aczon, 1250 Addison, Suite 210, Berkeley, CA 94702.

Jones Mortuary in East Palo Alto handled the arrangements.