Obituaries: Menlo Park

Services will be held Saturday, March 20, at 1 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Menlo Park for Elizabeth McCann Lawry, who died March 11. She was 86 years old.

Born in San Francisco in 1912 to Mark McCann and Gertrude Vandre McCann, she moved with her family to Menlo Park in the early 1920s. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Castilleja School and San Mateo College.

She was a charter member of the Menlo Circus Club, a member of the San Francisco Spinsters, and a society photographer for the Examiner and Town and Country Magazine.

She married Dr. Edwin Lawry in 1942, and raised her family primarily in Atherton. Mrs. Lawry was a member of the Junior League of Palo Alto, the Century Club of California, the Atherton Dames, Little House, the Friends of Filoli, and the board of the Menlo Park Historical Association. Family members said she was skilled at interior decorating, needle point, cooking, and gardening, and that she loved taking walks with her friends.

Mrs. Lawry is survived by her daughter, Donna; two sons, Mark and Vance; granddaughter Barbara Hutchinson; and great granddaughter Sarah Hutchinson. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1981.

Memorial gifts may be sent to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, 300 Homer Avenue, Palo Alto, CA, 94301. In addition, the Menlo Park Historical Association is accepting donations for a memorial to be built on the former grounds of Mrs. Lawry's childhood home, now the rectory of Saint Raymond's Catholic Church.

Marcy Seifert Aylward Oliver Writer

A funeral service will be held at the Menlo Presbyterian Church Saturday, March 20, at 2 p.m. for Marcy Seifert Aylward Oliver, who died March 11 after a long illness. Before moving to Los Altos, she was a longtime resident of Sharon Heights in Menlo Park. Born in West Virginia, Mrs. Oliver lived in New York, Honolulu, and Boston before moving to the Bay Area in 1970. Family members said she was active in the early days of Honolulu radio, broadcasting as the "Dorothy Dix of the Air" in the 1930s. In recent years she wrote a number of privately published books, including one written with her husband, Roy Oliver. Mrs. Oliver was also a member of the Atherlons and Little House in Menlo Park.

She is survived by her husband Roy B. Oliver of Los Altos; daughter Marcy Aylward Harris Conley; grandchildren Mark Aylward Harris of Providence, Rhode Island, Jill Harris Benshoof of La Canada, Stuart Theodore Aylward Harris of Berkeley, and Marcy Lynn Harris of Sunnyvale. She is also survived by three great grandchildren. She was married previously to Theodore Aylward of Haverford, Pennsylvania, and George W. Anderson of Boston, both now deceased. Donations may be made to Peninsula Volunteers in Menlo Park.

June Sidells

Ohioan

Services will be held Friday, March 19, at 2 p.m. at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, for June Sidells, who died March 13. She was 90 years old.

An Ohio native, Mrs. Sidells was the wife of Arthur F. Sidells for 64 years. She assisted him in his architectural practice and was a community volunteer in Warren, Ohio, before moving to California 10 years ago.

She is survived by her two sons, Stephen of Menlo Park and Stuart of Berkeley; two granddaughters, Elisabeth of San Francisco and Margaret of Berkeley. She was preceded in death by her husband Arthur and grandson John Sidells.

The cremains of Mrs. Sidell will be interred with those of her husband in the Columbarium at the First Presbyterian Church of Warren, Ohio.

Kathryn A. Ogborn

Menlo Park

Services were held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for Kathryn A. Ogborn, who died in her Menlo Park home March 3. She was 82.

Born in South Dakota in 1917, Mrs. Ogborn moved to Menlo Park in 1987.

She is survived by her children and in-laws, Mary (Larry) Anderson and Mark (Daine) Ogborn of Menlo Park; Murry (Connie) Ogborn and Mike (Jill) Ogborn of Denver; brother Tim Murry of Sioux City; and sister Madonna Larsen of Dubuque, Iowa.

Contributions may be made to the American Lung Association. Arrangements were made by John O'Connor's Menlo Colonial Chapel in Menlo Park.

Virginia Koblick

Menlo Park

Virginia Margaret Koblick, a Menlo Park homemaker, died March 10 in her home. She was 73.

Ms. Koblick was originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. She is survived by her husband, Allan; children Stephen Koblick, Jamie Koblick and Anne McQuillen; siblings Glenn Christensen, Ernie Christensen and Evie Lindsey; and two grandchildren.

Private family services and burial will be held at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto. Arrangements will be handled by the Menlo Park Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries, 650 Live Oak Ave., Menlo Park.

Linda S. Burns

Former Menlo Park resident

Memorial services for Linda S. Burns, a former Menlo Park resident, will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 20, in the home of her parents, William and Patricia Robertson, 16 Maple Ave., Atherton.

Mrs. Burns died February 3 after a short illness in Fresno where she had lived after moving from Menlo Park. She was 53.

She was widely recognized in the field of care providers for show quality Persian cats that won many awards and accolades, said her mother.

Born in Palo Alto, Mrs. Burns attended Encinal School in Atherton, graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School, and attended California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. She is survived by her daughter, Jackie Burns Kapuniai of Pacifica; five grandchildren; her parents; and two brothers, Scott and Brad Robertson.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.

Mary E. Brumm

Longtime Menlo Park resident

Mary E. Brumm, who with husband moved to Menlo Park 43 years ago, died March 5 in her Menlo Park home after a brief illness.

Mrs. Brumm had worked as a medical technician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she met her husband, Dr. Harold J. Brum. They lived in St. Joseph, Missouri, before moving to Menlo Park in 1955. She enjoyed traveling and golfing, said family members, and she belonged to the Stanford University Golf Course Women's 9-hole group.

Born in Ogden, Utah, in 1911, she spent her youth in Wisconsin where she attended Ripon College and graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in mathematics.

She is survived by her five children: Harold Jr. of Arlington, Virginia; Stephen of Missouri City, Texas; Nancy Walsh of Olympia, Washington; Richard of Aptos; Daniel of Pleasanton; and 10 grandchildren. Her husband died in 1997.

Donations in Mrs. Brumm's memory may be made to a local hospice.

Funeral arrangements in St. Joseph, Missouri, were made by John D. O'Connor's Menlo Colonia Chapel.



© 1999 The Almanac. All Rights Reserved.