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Publication Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 Obituaries
Obituaries
(July 27, 2005)
Georgene Doutre Jones
Singer and teacher
Georgene Doutre Jones, a longtime resident of Menlo Park and a special education teacher at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, died July 13 at age 79. She had been fighting diabetes for years, family members said.
Ms. Jones was born in Logan, Utah, in 1925, and began singing at a young age. When she was 12, she started performing in churches, concerts, and musicals throughout Utah, and at age 15, appeared as a guest soloist with the Los Angeles orchestra, relatives said.
After graduating from Utah State University in 1947 as a music major, Ms. Jones studied at Boston University and at the Juilliard School in New York City. She also sang with New York's Metropolitan Opera, relatives said.
In 1950, she married Fay Fuhriman Jones and moved to Palo Alto, where Mr. Jones was working toward a master's degree in business at Stanford University. In the 1960s, the couple built a home in Menlo Park.
Besides raising four children, Ms. Jones gave voice lessons in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, and continued performing. She sang in churches of all denominations, and in events and charity functions in California, Nevada, and Utah, relatives said.
After her children left for college, Ms. Jones taught students with learning disabilities at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton for 20 years.
She is survived by Fay Jones, her husband of 55 years, who still lives in the home they built in Menlo Park; sons Richard Doutre Jones of San Diego, Stanton Doutre Jones of Park City, Utah, and Marshall Doutre Jones of Coto De Caza, California; daughter Cynthia Jones Callahan of Seattle; sister Edith Doutre Snapp of Escondido, California; brother David Lamar Doutre of Salt Lake City; 14 grandchildren; and one great-grandson.
Services were held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Menlo Park. Interment was held at the Logan Cemetery in Logan, Utah.
Emile P. 'Frenchy' Pommes
World War II veteran, service station owner
A funeral Mass will be held Thursday, July 28, in Menlo Park for Emile P. "Frenchy" Pommes, who died July 24 at age 90.
The Mass will begin at 11 a.m. at the Church of the Nativity, 210 Oak Grove Ave.
Born in San Francisco on July 19, 1914, Mr. Pommes moved to Menlo Park when he was 10 years old, family members said.
In 1933, he graduated from Sequoia High School, where he played baseball and was the captain of the basketball team.
Mr. Pommes married high school classmate Irene Ventura in 1939.
Prior to World War II, Mr. Pommes opened a service station on the corner of Santa Cruz Avenue and El Camino Real in Menlo Park, and after the war, he owned a Phillips 66 station on the corner of Oak Grove and El Camino Real in Menlo Park. He retired in 1975.
Mr. Pommes was a Little League baseball coach and a member of the Church of Nativity and the Thursday Group. He also was active in the Peninsula Volunteers. He loved music, dancing, and traveling to Reno with his wife, family members said.
He is survived by a son, Rod of Menlo Park, and a grandson. He was preceded in death by his wife, Irene.
Following the services, burial will take place at Holy Cross Cemetery, 1100 Santa Cruz Ave. in Menlo Park. Additionally, a rosary will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, also at the Church of Nativity.
The family prefers donations to the Nativity School Endowment Fund, 1250 Laurel Ave., Menlo Park 94025; or the VA Hospice Care Center, Building 100, Ward 2C, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Ave., Palo Alto 94304-1290.
Arrangements are being handled by the Menlo Park Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries in Menlo Park.
James E. Case
Geophysicist with USGS
Private services were held for James E. Case, former Menlo Park resident, professor and scientific researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Mr. Case, 72, died after a heart attack May 22 in Las Vegas, where he had been living. He lived in Menlo Park from 1978 to 1992.
In 1956, Mr. Case joined the USGS, where he was recognized for his scientific contributions in geophysics in several regions. He made geophysical appraisals in the western United States.
He was the first to map the geological tectonic plates of the Caribbean and the Galapagos Islands, said his family. He also did work in the geophysical expressions of the Canadian Shield, areas of Alaska, and the country of Colombia, in which he specialized.
After Mr. Case received his doctoral degree in geophysics from the University of California, Berkeley, he was a professor at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas; Texas A &M University at College Station; and the University of Missouri in Columbia.
Mr. Case is survived by his wife, Irma Isaza Case of Menlo Park; children, Catherine Liles of College Station, Texas, James Case Jr. of Sitka, Alaska, Marianne Jost of Lufkin, Texas, Stephanie Case of Pasadena, and Melanie Case of San Francisco; six grandsons; and a granddaughter. His brother, George Case of Charleston, Oregon, also survives him.
The family welcomes contributions to a scholarship fund to be established in the name of James E. Case through Florida International University, to which he donated his professional library.
Eileen B. Skrabo
Portola Valley homemaker
Eileen B. Skrabo, a longtime resident of Portola Valley, died peacefully at her home on Sunday, July 17, at the age of 92. A memorial service for Ms. Skrabo will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, July 29, at the Church of the Nativity at 210 Oak Grove Ave. in Menlo Park.
Ms. Skrabo will be remembered for her family traditions and gatherings throughout her life. For 60 years, she was married to John C. Skrabo, who died in 1996 and whose family was among the very early residents of Portola Valley. Ms. Skrabo's daughter Donna Gaetano died last year.
Ms. Skrabo is survived by sons Jack of Palo Cedro, Mark of Davis and Paul of Portola Valley; and 13 grandchildren, including Nicole Gaetano Hughes, Nino Gaetano and Carter Hughes of Menlo Park and Paige and Linsey Skrabo of Portola Valley.
Arrangements are by Spangler Mortuaries of Menlo Park.
The family prefers donations in Ms. Skrabo's name to: Students Rising Above, in care of the Peninsula Community Foundation, 1700 South El Camino Real, Suite 300, San Mateo, CA 94402.
David Gordon Sjostrom
Vice president, Dole Food Co.
A memorial service will be held Thursday, July 28, at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, for David Gordon Sjostrom, former vice president of sales for the Dole Food Co. and longtime resident of Menlo Park, who died peacefully in his sleep July 20. He was 73.
The service will begin at 2 p.m. at the church, located at 950 Santa Cruz Ave. in downtown Menlo Park.
A native of Lawrence, Massachusetts, Mr. Sjostrom was an 1955 ROTC graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. He served as a second lieutenant and captain in the U.S. Air Force, where he worked as a management analysis officer until 1958.
That year he began his business career in packaged goods, distribution, and management with the Procter & Gamble Co.
In 1960 he joined Lehn & Fink as a grocery products sales manager, and in 1964 he joined the Dole Processed Pineapple Co., then a division of Castle & Cooke Inc., as a district manager. He was promoted to regional sales manager, rose to national sales promotion manager, and in 1972, was named vice president of sales, a position he held until 1992. He remained with Dole as an industry consultant until 1996, when he became a partner in an import/export firm where he worked until his death.
An avid golfer, Mr. Sjostrom was a member of the San Francisco Advertising Golf Association and its president in 1995. He also was a board member of the Northern California Golf Association. Serving as president of the Sales & Marketing Executives Association of the Bay Area for many years, he was also on the board of the Grocery Manufacturers Association of San Francisco.
Family members say he never missed a Little League game with his two young grandsons, Tyler and Will. He was also a longtime supporter of the Boy Scouts of America.
Survivors include his son, Doug Sjostrom of San Carlos; daughter Lesli Sjostrom of San Francisco; and sisters, Jane Sjostrom Wyman of Sterling, Virginia, and Nancy Sjostrom Williams of Richmond, Virginia.
The family prefers donations in his memory to the Peninsula Humane Society (peninsulahumanesociety.org) or Boy Scouts of America.
Lucy Jean 'Jeannie' Styles
Retired teacher
A memorial service for Lucy Jean "Jeannie" Styles, a retired teacher who worked for 24 years in the Palo Alto Unified School District, is set for 1 p.m. on Friday, July 29, at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, 950 Santa Cruz Ave.
Ms. Styles died July 20 in Menlo Park following a long battle with lymphoma. She was 71.
Born in Detroit, she graduated with an education degree from the University of Tennessee, then taught in Tennessee, Arizona and Massachusetts before moving to California to teach kindergarten and first grade at De Anza Elementary School in Palo Alto. She retired, but later was a substitute teacher and won the Palo Alto Unified School District's Outstanding Substitute of the Year award for 1998-99.
She followed her husband's career to Kansas City and Far Hills, New Jersey, before returning to California. She lived in Menlo Park from 1995 to 1999, family members said.
She is survived by her husband, Robert Styles; her children, Robert Styles Jr. of Redwood City, Cathy Powers of Los Altos, Debby deOlivera of Redwood City and Chrissy Heinz of San Ramon; her sister, Gerry Gilchrist; and 11 grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son, Gregory Carl.
The family prefers memorial donations to the National Foundation for Cancer Research, P.O. Box 96024, Washington, DC 20090-6024; or to the Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.
Funeral arrangements were by Spangler Mortuaries.
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