Issue date: September 02, 1998
Margaret Jewell Mullen
Born in Emporia, Kansas, she earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Arkansas and a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin. She began teaching at San Jose State University in 1931.
Moving to Menlo Park in 1936, she taught at Stanford from 1937 to 1942 and founded the modern dance program there, an achievement for which the Stanford University Dance Division recently created a Distinguished Chair.
In 1941, she married James McLean Mullen and was a homemaker until 1967, when she founded the career education program at Menlo-Atherton High School. In 1972, she wrote the California state manual for career education, based on the model she developed at M-A. The city of Menlo Park awarded her a key to the city in 1974.
After her retirement, she began writing prose and poetry in 1979. Her first book, "An Arkansas Childhood -- Growing Up In the Athens of the Ozarks," was published in 1989. "Safe for Now," a collection of her poetry, was published in 1993. Her last book, "One Woman's Journey -- from 8 to 88," was published in 1998. She was an active member of many writing groups, including Waverly Writers.
She is survived by her daughter Sally Mullen of Menlo Park; her son Michael Mullen and his wife, Leta, of Seattle; and a granddaughter Melissa Stewart of Seattle.
Friends are invited to attend the September 3 service, which will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 751 Waverly Avenue in Palo Alto. Flowers are welcome, or memorial donations may be made to the Children's Home Society, the California Alliance for the Mentally Ill, or the American Cancer Society. Arrangements were made under the direction of Spangler Mortuary in Menlo Park.
Lee Marie Serre Leach
She was born in Springer, Ontario, on Easter Sunday in 1922, the eldest of three children.
After a chance meeting and a whirlwind courtship, she married J. Frank Leach and moved with him to the United States. The two moved to the area in 1972 and were married for 52 years. Mr. Leach died in August 1997.
Mrs. Leach's many interests included interior decorating, bridge, and gardening, family members said. Mr. and Mrs. Leach were both active supporters of the Filoli Trust: he was a member of the governing board, and she often volunteered at the estate.
Mrs. Leach is survived by her children J. Michael Leach of Clayton and Suzanne Lee Earnest of Pleasanton; a brother and sister; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Funeral services and interment were private. A memorial service and reception were held September 1 at Christ Church on Portola Road in Portola Valley.
Donations may be made to the American Lung Association, 1469 Park Ave., San Jose, CA 95126; or the Boys and Girls Club, 400 Market Place, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Arrangements were made by Roller, Hapgood & Tinney of Palo Alto.
Berta Lindeman Rathbun
Born in Los Angeles, Mrs. Rathbun spent her early youth on her family's hacienda in Colima, Mexico. When she was 7, the family returned to California and lived in San Jose.
She and her sisters Clotilde and Elena Lindeman formed a Mexican folk-singing act, Las Tapatias, which became well known in Santa Barbara and the Yosemite Valley during the 1930s. They also starred in a film, "Triple Justice," with Randolph Scott.
In 1941, Ms. Lindeman married Gail Rathbun; in 1948, the couple became caretakers of the Sharon Estate in Menlo Park, but moved to Woodside when the land was subdivided in 1958. During the 1960s and 1970s Mrs. Rathbun became an accomplished floral designer associated with several Peninsula flower shops. In Woodside she was an active horsewoman and a Peninsula Volunteer.
She is survived by her son Galen B. Rathbun of Cambria, Calif.; her daughter Karen Rathbun of Menlo Park; sisters Emilia Rathbun of Palo Alto and Clotilde Gibbson of Portola Valley; a nephew; and two nieces.
Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of the donor's choice. No services will be held.
© 1998 The Almanac. All Rights Reserved.