Obituaries

Elizabeth Anne "Peggy" Gregg, a floral designer and Sharon Heights resident for 33 years, died November 25 at The Forum Healthcare Center in Cupertino. She was diagnosed a month earlier as having pancreatic cancer. Mrs. Gregg had moved from Sharon Heights to the Forum last June.

Mrs. Gregg spent most of her childhood in Shanghai, China, where her father was in business. She met her future husband, Godfrey Gregg, while a schoolgirl in Shanghai, where both families lived and were friends. She and Mr. Gregg were married after she graduated from Stanford University and he graduated from University of California at Berkeley.

The Gregg family moved to Sharon Heights 33 years ago. Mr. Gregg died 27 years ago.

Along with family and friends, Mrs. Gregg's special joy was her garden, according to her son, Peter. She was also a talented flower arranger and floral designer. Together with her good friend Marge Posthauer, they formed a business specializing in flowers for weddings. Mrs. Gregg also often assisted Mrs. Posthauer in creating floral arrangements for the Menlo Country Club.

Mrs. Gregg was a member of Friends of Filoli and Elizabeth Gamble Garden Center, and a sustaining member of the Woodside-Atherton Auxiliary to Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. She will be remembered for her "quiet strength and joy for life that touched all she knew," said her son, Peter. She is survived by her sons, Peter Gregg of Los Altos; Chris Gregg of Bellingham, Washington, and three grandchildren. At her request, there was no funeral service.

Contributions in her memory may be made to Friends of Filoli, Canada Road, Woodside, California, 94062, or to Elizabeth Gamble Garden Center, 1431 Waverley, Palo Alto.

Robert E. McFarland Sr.

Pennsylvania native

Robert E. "Mac" McFarland died November 16 in Menlo Park. He was 88 years old.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. McFarland is survived by his wife Clara McFarland; children Kenneth McFarland of Washington, Marilyn McFarland of Menlo Park, and Nancy Mouser of Palo Alto; sisters Marjorie Detwiler of Three Springs, Pennsylvania, and Katheryn Johnson of Rock Creek, Maryland; and two grandchildren.

His son Robert McFarland Jr. died just nine days after his father.

Memorial contributions to further research into lung disease may be made to the Office of Medical Development, Stanford University Medical Center, 770 Welch Road S400, Palo Alto, CA 93404-1545.

Robert McFarland Jr.

Menlo Park resident

Robert "Bud" McFarland Jr. died at his Menlo Park home on November 25. He was 54 years old.

He is survived by his mother, Clara McFarland of Menlo Park; brother Kenneth McFarland of Washington; sisters Marilyn McFarland of Menlo Park and Nancy Mouser of Palo Alto; and son Robert McFarland III.

His father, Robert McFarland Sr., died November 16. Services have been held. Memorial contributions directed toward cirrhosis research may be made to the Office of Medical Development, Stanford University Medical Center, 770 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1515.

John 'Jack' Harlan

Insurance agent

John Sherman "Jack" Harlan of Menlo Park died quietly at home on December 4 at age 79. He had been an area resident for more than 50 years.

Mr. Harlan was born and raised in Trinidad, Colorado. In 1939 he entered the Army Air Corps, which brought him to the Bay Area. It was while he was stationed at Moffet Field that he met and married Vivian Erickson of Palo Alto. After the war the couple settled permanently in the Menlo Park area.

For many years Mr. Harlan was affiliated with Friedman & Co. insurance agency in San Francisco, later joining Boring-Reifenrath & Vreeburg Inc. insurance agency in Redwood City. He retired in 1994. Mr. Harlan also served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, retiring as a colonel in 1962.

Mr. Harlan is survived by his wife of 57 years, Vivian; daughters, Patricia Solari of Sunnyvale and Elizabeth Hemmerling of Menlo Park; son, Col. John Harlan Jr. of San Antonio, Texas; two sisters Meredith Davis of San Diego and Elizabeth Harlan of Phoenix; six grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

A graveside service was held at Alta Mesa Cemetery in Palo Alto. Arrangements were made under the direction of Roller, Hapgood & Tinney, Palo Alto. The family requests remembrances in the form of donations to either Mid-Peninsula Hospice Foundation, 65 El Camino Real, Menlo Park; or the American Cancer Society, San Mateo County Unit, 1720 Amphlett Boulevard, San Mateo.

Gladys M. Dodds

Retired schoolteacher

Gladys Dodds, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died at Sharon Heights Convalescent Hospital in Menlo Park November 28 after a long illness. She was 98 years old.

A native of Pacific Grove, she moved with her family to Hollister as a young child. The family later moved to San Jose, where she graduated from high school and then from San Jose Normal (now San Jose State.)

She taught first grade at the Lytton School in Palo Alto for several years until she married Lauren H. Dodds, a widower with two children, in 1935. Her husband and stepson, Henry T. Dodds, preceded her in death.

She is survived by her stepdaughter, Martha D. Wheeler of Menlo Park; and her granddaughters Victoria Cone of Leucadia, California; Martha Suihkonen of Boise, Idaho; Barbara Buckley of Ashland, Oregon; Anne Wheeler-Waddell of Ethiopia; and Joan Griffin of Novato, California. She also is survived by eight great-grandchildren.

A date for family services has yet to be set.

Memorial contributions may be made to All Saints Episcopal Church, 555 Waverley Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301.

Arrangements were made under the direction of Roller, Hapgood & Tinney in Palo Alto.



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