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Publication Date: Wednesday, March 07, 2001
Obituaries
Obituaries
(March 07, 2001)
@mug:Goodell
Nancy K. Goodell
Community activist
A memorial service will be held at 3:30 p.m. March 10 for Nancy K. Goodell of Menlo Park. Mrs. Goodell, an active member of her church and community, died February 27 in her home at the age of 81.
The memorial service will be at First Baptist Church, 625 Magdelena Ave., Los Altos.
Mrs. Goodell graduated from Longwood College and married in 1943. Her first husband died in the invasion of Normandy in 1944; she married again to Howard Goodell in 1946.
Mrs. Goodell led her life in a spirit of service and leadership, and she was noted for her love of people, her strong Christian faith, and her organizational skills, family members said.
She held many positions in churches in Virginia and California. She also served as an officer in the Red Cross and the Republican Women's Club, and as a reader to the blind.
Mrs. Goodell and her husband founded the Anthony Schools of S.F. Peninsula in Menlo Park in 1965; she was responsible for personnel and public relations there for 15 years. In recent years, she served in executive positions with the Menlo-Atherton Christian Women's Club and the Menlo-Atherton chapter of the American Association of University Women.
Mrs. Goodell is survived by her children, Howard Jr. of Salem, New Hampshire, James McLain of Menlo Park, and Katherine Langhorne of Foster City; her sisters, Katherine Buck of Richmond, Virginia, Julia Thomas of Merry Point, Virginia, and Jane Bell Sommers of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and two grandsons. Her husband Howard died in 1998 after 51 years of marriage.
Contributions may be sent to Massanetta Springs Conference Center, 712 Massanetta Springs Road, Harrisonburg, VA 22801; or to Insight for Living, P.O. Box 69000, Anaheim, CA 92817.
Roy. S. Kitamura
Executive and golfer
Roy S. Kitamura, a native of Hawaii and longtime member of the Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club, died February 22 at his home in Menlo Park. He was 62.
Mr. Kitamura earned a degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1961 and returned to Hawaii to work. He became president of HC&D Freight Forwarders International in 1975 and relocated to the Peninsula with his family.
Mr. Kitamura was an avid golfer and domino player. He liked to fish and garden and take photographs, and was often seen walking his two Labrador dogs. Family members said that Mr. Kitamura made friends easily and that he will be remembered for his irrepressible sense of humor and genuine love of life.
Mr. Kitamura is survived by his wife Ellen; sons Jon of Menlo Park and Sam of Los Angeles; his father Sumiko of Honolulu; sisters Lillian and Helen of Honolulu; and his brother Earl of San Jose.
Inurnment services were held at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto. Donations may be made to the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University.
Giovanni Della Morte
Stanford University gardener
Giovanni Della Morte, a native of Italy, died February 26 at his Menlo Park home. He was 91.
Mr. Della Morte was a gardener at Stanford University for 14 years, and a resident of Menlo Park for 38 years.
In his free time, he enjoyed gardening at home, making wine, and playing bocce ball, according to family members. Mr. Della Morte was also a past member of the Italian American Social Club and I.C.F. #351, both of Menlo Park.
Mr. Della Morte is survived by his wife of 69 years, Giovanna; daughter Alderina Magagnini of Menlo Park; son Antonio of Menlo Park; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held at St. Raymond's Catholic Church in Menlo Park, with interment at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto.
Donations may be made to the Mid-Peninsula Hospice Foundation, 65 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025; or to the American Heart Association, 1 Almaden Blvd., Suite 500, San Jose, CA 95113-2214.
@mug:Nelson
Karin Nelson
Landscape designer
Karin Nelson, a landscape designer and Menlo Park resident, died of cancer February 21 in her home. She was 55.
Ms. Nelson, a native of Germany, received a teaching certificate from Canada College in 1976 and a landscape design certificate from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1995.
Ms. Nelson's work spanned several areas of interest, relatives said. She worked at Houghton-Mifflin Publishing Company, the Peninsula School, and SRI International, and was the co-owner of the Allergrains bakery.
Later in her career, she established and operated Four Seasons Landscape Design.
She served on the Menlo Park Environmental Beautification Commission for many years and won the city's Good Design Award for both her home and the Pope Street Island.
Ms. Nelson is survived by her daughter Kristie of Menlo Park; son Eric of Redwood City; a sister, Ute Hemminghaus of Germany; and her good friend, Jeffrey Hook of Menlo Park.
A memorial service was held at Holbrook-Palmer Park in Atherton.
Donations may be made to Healing Journeys, P.O. Box 250, Aptos, CA 95001; or to Vajrapani, P.O. Box 2130, Boulder Creek, CA 95006. Healing Journeys provides a Web site donation form at www.healingjourneys.com.
Eugene Gheleta
Native of Russia
Eugene Artemi Gheleta, who escaped from Russia and immigrated with his family to China, died February 14 at his Menlo Park home. He was 72.
After leaving Russia, Mr. Gheleta's family settled in Harbin, China. His father died 1932 when Eugene was 4, and he was raised in an orphanage in Shanghai where he later attended the Russian Gymnasia.
The family fled China with the Communist revolution, spending two years in a refugee camp in the Philippines before immigrating to the United States in 1950. At the camp Mr. Gheleta met his future wife, Elizabeth Kohnert, whose family had also come from Shanghai.
After arriving in the United States, Mr. Gheleta went overseas as an electrician during the Korean War, stringing power lines in the battle zone.
After the war he worked as an electrician and mechanic for Pan American Airlines, eventually becoming supervising foreman. He worked for Pan Am for more than 30 years and spent 10 years at Lockheed, performing military aircraft modifications.
When the family moved from San Francisco to Menlo Park in 1960, Mr. Gheleta helped build their Menlo Oaks home.
Mr. Gheleta is survived by his wife Elizabeth; daughter, Kathy Crane of Woodside; son John Gheleta of La Honda; son Michael Gheleta of Louisville, Colorado; and one granddaughter.
Funeral services have been held. Memorial gifts may be made to the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church, 1220 Crane St., Menlo Park 94025, where Mr. Gheleta was a choir member for many years.
Julia Murphy
Former Atherton resident
Julia H. Murphy, formerly of Atherton, died February 17 in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was 97.
A longtime member of Church of the Nativity, Menlo Park, Mrs. Murphy is survived by her children: Arlene Nuckton of Scottsdale, Patricia Azzarello of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and John Murphy of Pensacola, Florida. Memorials may be made to Nativity School, 1250 Laurel St., Menlo Park 94025.
Edith Doyle
Menlo Park native
Edith Simonini Doyle, who was born in Menlo Park, died February 20 in at her home in Gilroy. She was 75.
Mrs. Doyle, who was a homemaker, is survived by sons Ralph Jackson, Dan Jackson and Tom Caldwell, all of San Jose; daughter Beverly Keim of Gilroy; brothers Larry Simonini of Palo Alto and Joseph Simonini of Torre Del Lago, Italy; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Services were held February 23 at the Menlo Park chapel of Spangler Mortuaries, with interment in Holy Cross Cemetery, Menlo Park.
Jane Weil
Registered nurse
A memorial service has been held for Jane Weil of Portola Valley, who died March 1 at Stanford Medical Center at the age of 66.
Mrs. Weil was a registered nurse who earned her nursing degree at Columbia University in New York. She came to California to run the nursery for premature infants at Stanford Medical Center, her husband Fred said.
Mrs. Weil also worked as a nurse for Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco.
Fred and Jane Weil were married for 40 years, and lived in Portola Valley for about that long. They lived in England for six years and traveled frequently.
Besides her husband, Mrs. Weil is survived by a daughter, Susan Anne Weil; two sons, John and Paul Weil; her granddaughter, Emily Brown; two brothers, John and Tom Gaffney; and two sisters, Mary Martin and Ann Rouchard. She was preceded in death by her brother Jim Gaffney.
A service was held March 3 at Our Lady of the Wayside Church in Portola Valley. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Roller, Hapgood & Tinney of Palo Alto.
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