Myrtle Harris
A memorial service for Myrtle Elizabeth Whitsett Harris of Menlo Park will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Woodside Village Church in Woodside, where she was a longtime member. Ms. Harris died September 14 at Stanford Medical Center after a battle with cancer. She was 72.Ms. Harris was born in Los Angeles. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Occidental College, and in 1958 earned a master’s degree in education from Stanford University. That same year she married William Nelson Harris.
Ms. Harris was active in education and the community. Her community service included serving as an alumni trustee of Occidental College, and serving as president of the Myrtle L. Atkinson Foundation and as a director of the W.P. Whitsett Foundation. She was dedicated to the YWCA and served as a member of the World Service Council for more than 30 years. She also served on the Mid-Peninsula YWCA board for 10 years.
Ms. Harris established the W.P. Whitsett chair and lecture series in California history at California State University, Northridge, and served on the President’s Investment Board of that university. She was a member of the chaplaincy advisory committee at Stanford Medical Center and a member of the Family Service Agency of San Mateo County.
Ms. Harris is survived by her husband, William Harris; sons Robert of Corvallis, Oregon, John of Bellevue, Washington, and Bill of Menlo Park; brother John F. Whitsett; and seven grandchildren.
Memorial gifts may be made to Sempervirens Fund, Drawer BE, Los Altos, CA 94023.
Minerva Herbein Hartzell
Minerva Herbein Hartzell, whose life spanned 100 years, died Sept. 16 in Portola Valley, where she lived for the past 37 years.She married her childhood sweetheart, Harry E. Hartzell, on September 23, 1930. Last fall, shortly before his death, they celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.
The Hartzells moved to The Sequoias, the retirement community in Portola Valley, in 1969. In connection with her husband’s career with Hercules Powder Company of Wilmington, Delaware, Ms. Hartzell lived in various cities in the United States and, before World War II, near Manchester, England.
After the war she and Mr. Hartzell lived for 20 years in London, where he was managing director in Hercules’ London office. They cultivated their interest in concert music and opera, collected art and traveled extensively.
At The Sequoias, Ms. Hartzell organized the popular Music at Four concerts, which brought noted and aspiring musicians to the retirement community. She was an accomplished seamstress and needlewoman, and was well known for the stylish hand-knit suits in her wardrobe, said her family.
Ms. Hartzell was born into a Pennsylvania Dutch family, and grew up in Bechtelsville and Boyertown, Pennsylvania. She graduated with a degree in music from Bluffton College in Ohio and taught music in New Jersey public schools until her marriage.
She is survived by her son, Harry E. Hartzell Jr., a retired Palo Alto pediatrician; three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, 4000 Middlefield Road, #M-1, Palo Alto, CA 94303.
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