Obituaries are based on information provided by the families.
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Gordon Covell,
insurance broker
Gordon Sidney Covell of Portola Valley died July 8 after a brief illness. He was 95.
Born in San Francisco, he graduated from Burlingame High School and attended junior college prior to entering Stanford University.
After service in the U.S. Marines during World War II, he graduated from Stanford in 1947. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
He spent his business life as an insurance broker, starting out at Cosgrove and Company in San Francisco before setting up a partnership with Frank Olmo in San Jose. Ultimately, he had his own company based in Menlo Park.
In his younger days, he enjoyed golf and tennis, flyfishing trips and fine woodworking.
He is survived by his children, Christine of Santa Rosa, Catherine of Fremont, and Gordon Jr. of Los Altos Hills; four grandchildren; and special friend, Anne Molles. His wife of 49 years, Elsa Anderson Covell, died in 2000.
Donations in his name may be made to: Abilities Unlimited, 3864 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, 94303.
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Elaine Faulstich,
surgical nurse
A memorial service will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 24 in the Carriage House at Holbrook-Palmer Park, in Atherton for Elaine Rose Faulstich of Menlo Park. Ms. Faulstich, 73, died June 26 at Stanford Hospital of complications following cardiac arrest.
A resident of Menlo Park for more than 30 years, she was a surgical nurse at Kaiser and Sequoia hospitals in Redwood City. After retiring, she traveled the world and pursued her love of art, crafts and music, say family members.
She is survived by her children, Amy and David; step-mother Edith; and six siblings. Donations may be made to the Women and Gender Studies Program at San Francisco State University.
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Rosemarie Luce,
active in community
A three-hour gathering and memorial celebration for friends and relatives of active and engaged Portola Valley resident Rosemarie Luce is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, at a private home in town. (Call 650-888-8829 for information on the celebration.)
Ms. Luce died July 12 at her home at the age of 81.
The daughter of Italian immigrants Salvatore and Rose Magnasco, she was a native of San Jose and grew up on a family farm with an orchard, where she helped pick fruit.
She graduated from Campbell High School and attended San Jose State University, where she majored in occupational therapy. She left college to marry Ted Luce.
Once in the Bay Area, the couple lived in San Francisco and Palo Alto before moving to Portola Valley, where they lived for 50 years and raised three children.
She found work as an administrative assistant, and performed on local stages as a singer and actor and on the piano, which she also taught. She volunteered with the Peninsula Children’s Theater Association and the Peninsula Children’s Center.
At various points, she was a member of the town’s Parks & Recreation Committee and a president of the PTA, and was a regular at town picnics with “pots of chili, stacks of ribs and mounds of potato salad,” her family said.
At home, she pickled, canned and baked, sewed, painted and drew, and as she got older, played bridge, worked puzzles and watched old classic movies. Outdoors, she played paddle tennis, tennis, golf and softball.
Ms. Luce is survived by her husband Ted; brother Robert Magnasco; sons Kevin Luce of Missoula, Montana, and Timothy Luce of Van Nuys, California; and daughter Cynthia Luce of Portola Valley.
Ms. Luce donated her remains to the medical school at the University of California at San Francisco.
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Michael O’Connell,
airline machinist
An Irish wake for Woodside Glens resident Michael Dan O’Connell is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17, at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay.
Mr. O’Connell, a career machinist, an elementary school basketball coach and a birdwatcher and backpacker in the Sierra Nevada, died in his sleep on July 18. He was 75.
A native of Texas, he grew up in Wyoming as the son of a driller for oil and uranium. He was married three times. His 33-year career as a machinist with United Airlines began in Los Angeles, where he moved in hopes of playing saxophone in a jazz band.
After relocating to the Bay Area, he avidly followed local major league sports and coached basketball at Woodside Elementary School. His major accomplishments include a well-restored 1965 Austin Healey, and his home, which he built “mostly by himself,” his family said.
“His humor and his presence was always special. People would say he was the coolest guy they ever met, and he was,” his family said.
Mr. O’Connell is survived by his wife Julia O’Connell; former wives Marilyn Webb of Flower Mound, Texas, and Wanda Bambury of North Lake Tahoe; sisters Denise Evans of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Gwen Matthews of Raleigh, North Carolina; brother Ken O’Connell of Colorado Springs; daughters Shannon O’Connell of San Diego and Ashley Willwerth; son Michael Joseph O’Connell of Woodside; and a grandson.
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Charles M. Packer,
aerospace pioneer
Services for Charles Maurice Packer of Emerald Hills, a pioneer in research at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, at Holbrook-Palmer Park in Atherton. Mr. Packer died July 10 at the age of 86.
Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, he moved with his family to Burlingame, where he graduated from high school in 1948. He earned a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Utah.
For three years, he served as a commissioned officer in the U. S. Navy. In 1956, he played a significant role in the historic testing of the atomic and hydrogen bombs while aboard the USS Estes, the family said.
He accepted a position at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in 1957. During his early years at Lockheed, he earned a doctorate in materials science at Stanford University.
He had more than 59 years of experience with material used in aerospace applications. While at Lockheed, he earned many accolades, including the Robert E. Gross Award for Technical Excellence: Scientist of the Year. He was the co-author of three patents.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Leslie; their children, Jane Packer and Charles S. (Noelle Olsen) Packer; and three children from his previous marriage to Barbara Walcher: Tracy Packer (David Dawley), John Packer (Shindi Packer), and Adrienne Packer (Heather Grubb); brother Phil Packer (Sherrie Packer); and six grandchildren.
Donations may be made to the Alicia Ann Ruch Burn Foundation, www.aarbf.org.
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Kendall Stacey,
M-A Class of 2008
Kendall Reid Stacey, a member of the Class of 2008 at Menlo-Atherton High School, died of natural causes on June 28. Mr. Stacey, a native of Berkeley and a resident of San Francisco, was 26.
A celebration of Mr. Stacey’s life was held in early July in Charlottesville, Virginia. A West Coast celebration will be held at a date still to be determined, the family said.
In addition to M-A, he was a graduate of The Nueva School in Hillsborough and San Mateo, and Boston University. He was a resident of Menlo Park at the time he was an M-A student, his father John M. Stacey Jr. said.
Mr. Stacey divided his time between California and Virginia, where his father lives. His interests included the beach, animals, skiing, lacrosse — he was a member of M-A’s varsity team — and being with family and friends.
“Kendall lit up any room he entered and brought happiness, laughter and compassion to the many people he touched during his short life,” his father said.
Mr. Stacey is survived by his father; his mother, Deborah K. Stacey; brother John M. Stacey III of Palo Alto; and members of his extended family in Virginia, Georgia, Ohio and Michigan.
The family prefers donations in his memory to Teen Challenge of North Central Virginia at teenchallengeva.org.
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Evelyn Stoops,
real estate broker
Evelyn Stoops, a Woodside resident for more than 70 years who worked in real estate for more than 50 years, died June 20 at age 98 in Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City.
A funeral Mass was held June 28 at Mt. Carmel Church in Redwood City and a graveside service took place at Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park.
Ms. Stoops was a native of Sausalito and grew up in San Francisco and Woodside, the home of her great-grandparents since 1850. She graduated from Notre Dame High School in San Francisco in 1934.
She moved to Woodside permanently in 1945 after marrying Stephen O’Leary. The couple had three children.
Ms. Stoops started out in banking in San Francisco, then moved on to property management and real estate, and later became a real estate broker.
She worked until the age of 93 and became “one of the longest serving members of the San Mateo County Board of Realtors,” relatives said.
Ms. Stoops volunteered at times for church clubs and Brownie and Girl Scout troops. She was a lifelong parishioner of Our Lady of the Wayside in Portola Valley, St. Marcellas Mission Church on Canada Road in Woodside, and Mt. Carmel Church.
Ms. Stoops was preceded in death by her first husband, Stephen O’Leary, her second husband, Dewey Stoops, and her sister, Sister Marie Julie (Marcella Mortola) of the Dominican Order. She is survived by her daughters Stephanie Klingele of Oroville, California, and Marsha McCarthy of Santa Cruz; her son Stephen O’Leary of Baja, Mexico; four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
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