Nicolette Weicker
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco for Nicolette Bouwer Weicker. Ms. Weicker died of brain cancer Oct. 3 at her home in Napa. She was 64.
A talented athlete, Ms. Weicker and her husband, Theodore, lived in Portola Valley for 19 years. She was an active fundraiser for Menlo School and Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf in Redwood City, a volunteer and flower arranger at Filoli, and a long-distance runner competing in many marathons.
Ms. Weicker was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. While in high school, she was elected class captain for three years and prefect of her house in her final years. She was captain of the swim team, as well as an accomplished ballerina. After high school, she came to the United States as an exchange student through American Field Service. She worked briefly for South African Airways.
In 1963 she met Theodore Weicker III while he was working in South Africa for IBM World Trade. They were married in Johannesburg in 1965.
While living in Portola Valley, Ms. Weicker was active in many volunteer organizations. She was also a talented floral designer, arranging the flowers for friends’ weddings and taking part in the “Bouquets to Art” displays at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.
As a runner, Ms. Weicker completed nine marathons and four “ultra marathons” that took her around the world, from the Boston Marathon to Greece and South Africa, where she competed in the Comrades, the oldest “ultra marathon” in the world. (An ultra-marathon is any footrace that is longer than the traditional 26-mile marathon.) She received much media attention on her participation in the 54-plus-mile race, according to family members.
After moving from Portola Valley, the Weickers lived in South Africa for five years before moving to Napa. In the past 10 years they traveled to 25 countries. Their destinations included the Otter Trail in South Africa, the Milford Track in New Zealand, Mt. Whitney in California and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Ms. Weicker is survived by her husband of 42 years, Theodore of Napa; children Nicola Maree Weicker White of Woodside, Theodore Weicker IV of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Craig Ian Weicker of Eugene, Oregon; sisters Letitia Hughes and Marlene Strachan; brother Nicolaas Andre Bouwer; and three grandchildren.
Following the memorial service, a celebration of Ms. Weicker’s life will be held in the Crown Room of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
Donations may be made to the Bruce Kaye Brain Tumor Foundation, PO Box 462, Roseville, CA 95661; brucekayefoundation.org.
Dr. Robert Cathcart III
Dr. Robert F. Cathcart, an orthopedic surgeon who later specialized in allergy, environmental and orthomolecular medicine, died Oct. 17 at Stanford Medical Center. The Portola Valley resident was 75.
“Orthomolecular” was a term coined by Nobel laureate Linus Pauling for nutrition and preventative medicine. In the early 1970s, looking for a treatment for his chronic hay fever and stuffy nose, Dr. Cathcart discovered the merits of vitamin C after reading Mr. Pauling’s “Vitamin C and the Common Cold.” He was fascinated with the idea that with the onset of a viral illness, the body can process increased amounts of vitamin C without causing unpleasant side effects. His research led him to coin the phrase “bowel tolerance theory of vitamin C,” a concept that the more potent the viral disease, the higher the dosage of vitamin C that can be used for treatment. He wrote many medical papers describing treatment with vitamin C.
Dr. Cathcart was also well-known for designing a prosthesis to replace the top of the femur bone, located in the upper leg. The “Cathcart Prosthesis” has been implanted in over 100,000 hips.
Dr. Cathcart was born in San Antonio, Texas, and moved to Hillsborough as a child. After graduating from Stanford University, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1955 and was stationed in Germany. He received his medical degree from the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco in 1961.
He did his surgical internship and residence at Stanford Hospital and was an instructor of orthopedic surgery at Stanford from 1966 to 1967.
From 1970 to 1979 he was the only doctor in Incline Village on Lake Tahoe’s north shore. In 1980 he relocated to San Mateo, and in 1985 moved his practice to Los Altos.
In 2002 Dr. Cathcart was awarded the Linus Pauling Award by the Society for Orthomolecular Health-Medicine, one of many professional honors he received during his lifetime, say family members. He was a longtime member of the Stanford Alumni Association and the Los Altos Rotary Club. He retired earlier this year.
He is survived by his partner of 27 years, Alice Schenk; children Lisa Cathcart, Holly Cathcart, and Rob Cathcart; stepchildren Suzanne Schenk and Debra Schenk; and brother Allen Cathcart.
Private burial was held at Alta Mesa Cemetery in Los Altos, and a celebration of his life is planned for next month. Anyone wishing to be notified can send an e-mail to alice@sdocc.com. Contributions in his name can be made to Pets in Need in Redwood City.
Perry McGilvray
Perry Bradford McGilvray, who served as alumnae secretary at Castilleja School in Palo Alto for nearly 20 years, died Oct. 17. Ms. McGilvray, a resident of The Sequoias since 1993, was 90.
Ms. McGilvray was born in San Francisco. She spent her first two years of high school at Castilleja, commuting by train from the family home in San Mateo. When the family moved to Westwood, she attended Beverly Hills High School, where she met her future husband, Scott McGilvray. She attended UCLA for two years, then transferred to Stanford University. The McGilvrays were married in Carmel in 1941.
The family lived in Santa Monica, and in 1962 moved to Geneva, Switzerland, for two years. Mr. McGilvray died in 1971 and the next year Ms. McGilvray moved to Menlo Park to be closer to her two children.
For nearly 20 years, Ms. McGilvray worked as alumnae secretary at her alma mater, Castilleja. The school was her second family and her friendships with students and staff meant the world to her, say family members. She was an early volunteer at Gamble Garden and was active in the Palo Alto Garden club.
Ms. McGilvray shared many travel adventures, including a trip to Brazil, with her brother, Clark Bradford of Modesto, and his wife, Marian. Other travels included Japan, England and Paris on Stanford University sponsored trips. She was a tutor for Project Read and said she learned as much from her students as they did from her, say family members.
She is survived by her two children, Scott McGilvray of Santa Cruz and Anne Kasten of Woodside; two grandsons; and two great-granddaughters.
Private services are being planned. Donations in Ms. McGilvray’s honor may be made to Castilleja or Elizabeth Gamble Gardens in Palo Alto.
