Walter E. Meyerhof
Walter E. Meyerhof, a Stanford University professor emeritus of physics and a Menlo Park resident since 1949, died May 27 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 84.Born in Kiel, Germany, in 1922 — the same year his father, Otto Meyerhof, won the Nobel Prize for medicine — Mr. Meyerhof was forced to flee Europe during World War II. He and his parents were living in France when it became occupied by Nazi forces. And when the Nazis began rounding up Jews, many of whom had already escaped persecution in Germany, the 18-year-old Walter and his parents were helped in their escape to the United States by a non-Jewish American, Varian Fry.
They were three of 3,000 to 4,000 people rescued by Mr. Fry, and after Mr. Meyerhof retired, he attempted to repay the debt by establishing the Varian Fry Foundation Project, based in Menlo Park.
Founded by Mr. Meyerhof in 1997 under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee, the foundation strives to spread the word, mainly through classroom curricula, about the heroic deeds of Mr. Fry, who died in 1967. Mr. Meyerhof directed the foundation until recently.
Mr. Meyerhof earned his doctorate in physics in 1946 from the University of Pennsylvania. He began his career at Stanford in 1949, and retired in 1992. A textbook he wrote, “Elements of Nuclear Physics,” is still used in college classrooms, according to family members.
His career was distinguished by a number of awards and recognitions, including the Lloyd Dinkelspiel Teaching Award from Stanford, in 1977; the Tenured Faculty Development Award from Stanford, 1977-78; and an honorary doctorate from the University of Frankfurt, 1980.
His work in physics and in the nonprofit Varian Fry foundation didn’t prevent him from pursuing other interests, and during his later years, he took up writing and watercolor painting. After taking the popular “Life Stories” class offered at the Menlo Park Library by Sheila Dunec, he published a book, “In the Shadow of Love: Stories From My Life.”
His wife of 59 years, Miriam, said he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease last year.
In addition to his wife, who also had to flee Nazi Germany, Mr. Meyerhof is survived by two sons, Michael of Menlo Park and David of Burbank; a grandson, Matthew; and a sister, Bettina, of Seattle.
Holt Ashley
Holt Ashley, a Stanford University professor emeritus of aeronautics and astronautics and of mechanical engineering, died May 9 at his home in Woodside. He was 83.“His contributions to aerospace were as large as he was,” Stanford Professor Brian Cantwell, chairman of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said at Mr. Ashley’s memorial service. Mr. Ashley was 6 feet, 8 inches tall.
Mr. Ashley was born in San Francisco. He took time off from his studies at the California Institute of Technology to serve as a weather forecaster and reconnaissance officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps serving over the North Atlantic and in Europe.
He earned a master’s degree and doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and taught there through 1964. He then taught at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, founding the university’s Department of Aeronautical Engineering.
He returned to California in 1967 to join Stanford’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and retired from full-time teaching in 1989.
“Professor Ashley encouraged us to work on hang gliders or take a summer to think about sailboats or to think about flapping vehicles, whatever, to think independently and to think deeply,” said Ilan Kroo, professor of aeronautics and astronautics, who had been one of his students.
Mr. Ashley is survived by a sister, Joan Ashley Ennis, of Silver Spring, Maryland. He was preceded in death by his wife, Frances Day Ashley.
Memorial donations may be made to the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2500 16th, St. San Francisco, CA 94103-4213.
Robert B. Rubin
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, June 8, at Stanford Memorial Church for Dr. Robert E. Rubin of Woodside. Dr. Rubin died May 18 at Stanford Medical Center at the age of 65.A well known ophthalmologist, Dr. Rubin had been in practice at 1101 Welsh Road in Palo Alto since 1978.
Born in Philadelphia, Dr. Rubin was raised in Miami Beach. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, where he met his future wife, Patricia. He graduated from the University of Miami Medical School, interned at the University of Southern California Medical Center, and completed his ophthalmology residency in Cincinnati. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Montgomery, Alabama.
Returning to civilian life, he established his first practice in Los Altos in 1972.
Moving his offices to Palo Alto and Mountain View, Dr. Rubin developed a loyal patient base because of his ability to comfort and connect with patients, say family members. He specialized in cataract surgery and was an early practitioner of radial keratotomy and the Lasik technique. He was a longtime member of the Peninsula Eye Society.
Dr. Rubin was an avid golfer, and a member of the Stanford Golf Club and the Olympic Club in San Francisco. He was also a member of the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton.
Dr. Rubin is survived by his wife of 42 years, Patricia, of Woodside and San Francisco; daughter Shannon of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; son Christopher of San Francisco; and one grandson.
The family prefers memorials to www.guidedogs.com, Surgical Eye Expedition at www.seeintl.com, or the Pacific Community Foundation at www.pcf.org. Arrangements were under the direction of Spangler Mortuaries.
Carroll Cahill
Carroll Kales Cahill of Woodside died May 25 at El Camino Hospital after a lengthy battle with rheumatoid arthritis and its complications. She was 80.Ms. Cahill was born in Oakland and graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1947. She married Peter Cahill in 1953, and the couple lived in San Francisco for 36 years before moving to Woodside in 1989.
Ms. Cahill was an artist who specialized in oil paintings of children and landscapes. Her portraits of children and grandchildren hang in the homes of many of her friends. She enjoyed hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains and in the countryside surrounding Woodside, say family members. She also traveled extensively abroad.
Ms. Cahill is survived by her husband of 53 years, Peter; children, Sally Cahill of Alamo and Michael Cahill of Ojai; and a brother, Sheldon Kales, of Irvine. A daughter, Susan Cahill, preceded her in death.
Donations in Ms. Cahill’s memory may be made to the Arthritis Foundation, Northern California chapter, 657 Mission St., San Francisco, or to St. Anthony’s Padua Dining Room, 3500 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, 94025.
Earl H. Rhodehouse
Retired Menlo Park Fire Protection District Captain Earl H. Rhodehouse died May 28 in Yuma, Arizona. He was 85.Mr. Rhodehouse was born in San Francisco and grew up in Palo Alto. He graduated from Palo Alto High School and served in the U.S. Navy for four years during World War II. He served in the Menlo Park Fire Protection District for more than 30 years, retiring in 1974. He spent much of his career at Station No. 5 on Fair Oaks Avenue.
Captain Rhodehouse and his wife, Nita, raised five children in the North Fair Oaks neighborhood of unincorporated Menlo Park.
He is survived by his children, Beverly Cole of Penn Valley, California, Gary and Glenn Rhodehouse, both of Magalia, California, Cookie McClard of Quincy, and Sue Guglielmone of Redwood City; sister June Gallaher of Los Altos; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of almost 60 years, Nita.
The family prefers memorials be made to the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Attention: Task Force 3 Urban Search and Rescue Team, 300 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park 94025.
