Elisabeth Ullman Wills
Elisabeth Ullman “Babette” Wills died peacefully on Oct. 19 at the age of 97. Ms. Wills was a longtime resident of Portola Valley, living in a hand-built house called Willy Nilly.
Willy Nilly was a gathering place for artists, intellectuals and activists, including Nobel laureate Linus Pauling, United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez, and filmmaker Felix Greene, according to family friend Constance Crawford.
In the 1960s, author Wallace Stegner and others held a series of meetings at Willy Nilly, resulting in the creation of the Committee for Green Foothills, says Ms. Crawford.
Ms. Wills was born in St. Gobain, France. At the age of 20, she married her first husband, American painter Paul Ullman. The couple lived in Paris during the 1930s, surrounded by a community of artists. Their son, Jacques, was born in 1935.
The advent of World War II forced the family to leave France for the United States in 1940. The couple settled in Connecticut, where Ms. Wills became an American citizen. Mr. Ullman was killed in France in 1944, while on assignment to the Office of Strategic Services.
In 1945 Ms. Wills married Michael Wills. The couple eventually moved to Portola Valley, where they created their home over the next 25 years. Although they lived in an Army surplus hospital tent for the first two years, they entertained frequently, says Ms. Crawford. Their son, David, was born in 1950.
Ms. Wills taught cooking classes, did catering, and fostered a variety of cultural and political causes. For two years the Willses served as full-time chefs for the Maison Francaise at Stanford University. They celebrated Bastille Day with a large party every July 14. A biography of Ms. Wills, “Babette: Elizabeth Ullman Wills,” by Constance Crawford was published in 2005.
Survivors include sons Jacques Ullman of Sausalito and David Wills of Berkeley; sister Camille Bertron of Toulon, France; and two grandchildren. Her husband, Michael Wills, died in 1994.
Richard ‘Dick’ Mesak
Richard Henry “Dick” Mesak, a past captain of the Mounted Patrol of San Mateo County, died Oct. 8 at his home in Redwood City with his wife, Ada, at his side. Founder of the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos and the Circle Star restaurant, he was 89.
Born in San Francisco, Mr. Mesak was a member of the Mission High School 1936 championship football team. He attended St. Mary’s College in Moraga and played for the 1939 Cotton Bowl championship team.
He served in the U.S. Navy from 1941 to 1945 with the first group of Sea Bees in the Pacific.
After the war, he played football for the Detroit Lions in the National Football League and the Clippers in the Pacific Coast League in San Francisco.
Mr. Mesak was a member of many organizations, including the Disabled American Veterans, past senior commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, past vice president of the Homebuilders Association, San Mateo County Horseman’s Association, Mounted Patrol of San Mateo County and the Shack Riders Club. He was a former member of the Palo Alto and Shoreline golf clubs and a life member of the Redwood City Elks Club.
He is survived by his wife, Ada, of Redwood City; son Richard Mesak; stepson Bruce Paisley; and one granddaughter. His first wife, Jeanne, and daughter, Jeannine, preceded him in death.
No formal services will be held.
Irene Johnson
Irene Martha Johnson of Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, who taught in the primary grades at Oak Knoll School in the Menlo Park School District from 1961 to 1995, died Sept. 16. She was 81.
Ms. Johnson was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and graduated with a degree in elementary education from the University of Minnesota. She later received a master’s degree in education from Stanford University.
After graduation, she taught in Minnesota, England, and Germany before moving to Palo Alto.
She will be remembered for her love of travel, books, learning, the arts, playing the piano, and for instilling an appreciation of these things in her nieces and nephews, say family members.
She is survived by her sister-in-law, Diane Johnson, brothers-in-law Richard Weiss and Denis Bakke; and seven nieces and nephews.
Memorials may be made to the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University.
