Obituaries Obituaries (April 10, 2002)

Suzanne Gillis Hamm housing activist, dies

Suzanne Gillis Hamm, the driving force behind the creation of affordable senior housing at Crane Place in Menlo Park and an active member of Peninsula Volunteers, died March 28 at Stanford Hospital. She was 83.

In 1979, Ms. Hamm arranged $4.5 million in funding to build Crane Place, a 93-apartment complex for middle- and low-income seniors located close to downtown Menlo Park. In recognition of her work on behalf of seniors, she was once a guest of Charles Kuralt on his Sunday Morning program.

Ms. Hamm, known to her friends as Suzie, grew up in Denver and graduated from college with a degree in economics. She was a member of the university honors society Phi Beta Kappa, relatives said.

In 1941, she married gold miner John Hamm and spent 10 years in a high-altitude mining camp environment. The master mechanic of the camp, in an apparent reference to Ms. Hamm's collegiate achievements, lauded her democratic sensibilities by pronouncing her "just as common as anyone."

While in Colorado, relatives said Ms. Hamm sang unaccompanied at church and performed and organized productions at the historic and still-standing Tabor Opera House in Leadville, the same venue in which Houdini, Susan B. Anthony, Oscar Wilde, Jack Dempsey and John Phillip Sousa appeared.

The family moved to Palo Alto in 1951, when Ms. Hamm began a long involvement with the local community, relatives said. She worked for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, the Stanford University Development Office, and was project manager of the garden court renovation at Little House, relatives said.

She was a member of the Peninsula Volunteers for 20 years and received the Beth Kechler award for dedicated service in 1993.

Ms. Hamm was also a member of P.E.O., a women-only secret society. She was also actively involved with the Allied Arts Guild, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Auxiliary and the Garden Club of Palo Alto, relatives said.

Ms. Hamm is survived by her husband of 60 years; her sister Judith Gillis Godfrey of Mesa, Arizona; her sons John of Westerly, Rhode Island, and Jeremy of Oakland; her daughter Suzanne C. Peterson of Los Alamos; and four grandchildren.

Contributions in Ms. Hamm's memory may be made to the Peninsula Volunteers, Inc. at 800 Middle Avenue, Menlo Park.

Peter 'Pete' Meininger

Community leader

Services will be held Friday, April 12, at Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto for Peter Joseph Paul "Pete" Meininger of Woodside, who died at home March 30 after a brief illness. He was 74.

Born in St. Charles, Missouri, Mr. Meininger served in the Merchant Marine during World War II. He was a house painter for almost 50 years.

His enthusiasm, hard work, and great, good nature contributed to his neighborhood becoming a real community, said his wife Joan. Mr. Meininger spearheaded an effort to form the Citizens' Emergency Response Program for Woodside and surrounding cities. He was also instrumental in the Emerald Hills region of Woodside being included in the Woodside Elementary School District.

He participated in the Woodside Trail Club, and was an active member of Grace Lutheran Church.

Mr. Meininger loved reading, horseback riding, fishing, hunting, his computer, traveling, and woodworking while his opera music played, said his wife.

He is survived by his wife Joan, his daughter Mary, his sons Danny and Larry, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 4 p.m. Friday, April 12, at Grace Lutheran Church, 3149 Waverley St., Palo Alto. The family prefers donations to the American Cancer Society or the American Diabetes Association in lieu of flowers.

Martha Robbins Macdonald

Community volunteer

Friends of Martha Robbins Macdonald are invited to join her family in a celebration of her life at noon April 9 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto. Mrs. Macdonald of Atherton, an active volunteer and the recipient of the Peninsula Volunteers Honorary Life Member award, died March 20 at home. She was 80.

Born in San Francisco, Mrs. Macdonald was a third-generation Californian and lived in Palo Alto for 34 years. She had resided in Atherton since 1960.

Mrs. Macdonald graduated from Castilleja School in 1939 and earned a degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1942. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority.

Throughout her life, Mrs. Macdonald was an active volunteer, family members said. For 47 years, she was a member of Peninsula Volunteers, where she was instrumental in a drive to build the Peninsula Volunteers Partridge Kennedy Apartments, a 30-unit, low-income complex for seniors in Menlo Park. She was chairman of the resale Turnabout Shop in Palo Alto for two years, chairman of an annual fundraiser in 1960, and president of Peninsula Volunteers in 1962.

Mrs. Macdonald spent many years as a parent volunteer at Herbert Hoover, Castilleja and Menlo schools. She was a member of the Palo Alto Auxiliary to Children's Hospital at Stanford, the Francisca Club of San Francisco, the Menlo Circus Club, and the Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club. She served as chairman of the Pan Hellenic Committee.

Above all, say family members, Mrs. Macdonald will be remembered for her love of flowers; her floral arrangements were admired and enjoyed by family and friends at many occasions.

Her first husband, Bethune M. Ireland, died in 1968. She is survived by her husband of 32 years, Palmer Charles Macdonald of Atherton; her son, Robert Ireland of Kentfield; her daughter, Patricia Fuller of Los Altos Hills; her stepson, Tom Macdonald of Wilsonville, Oregon; and three granddaughters.

The celebration of Mrs. Macdonald's life on April 9 will be at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 600 Colorado Ave., Palo Alto. Gifts in Mrs. Macdonald's memory may be made to Peninsula Volunteers, 800 Middle Ave., Menlo Park CA 94025.

Private services have been held. Arrangements were under the direction of Roller Hapgood & Tinney, Palo Alto.

Ila Lee Palmer

Retired teacher, life-long learner

Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 14, for Ila Lee Palmer (born Shook), a resident of Atherton since 1952, who died at home on April 1.

The services will be at Roller Hapgood & Tinney mortuary, 980 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, followed by a reception at Mrs. Palmer's residence.

Born in Indiana, Mrs. Palmer moved to California with her family when she was 3.

She attended Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley, and earned bachelor's and master's degrees. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority.

Mrs. Palmer was a member of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, AAUW, P.E.O. Sisterhood, Order of the Eastern Star, and the Cosmopolitan Club.

A teacher, mother, wife, friend and life-long learner, according to her daughter Sharon Gies, she was much loved and will be much missed.

Mrs. Palmer was preceded in death by her husband of 57 years, Kenneth William Palmer, and by her daughter, Kendra Lee Hayes. In addition to her daughter Sharon Gies of Los Gatos, she is survived by four grandchildren.

Gifts in her memory may be sent to Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, 950 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park CA 94025.

Melvyn Stanley Berger

Lawyer, businessman

Melvyn Stanley Berger, a lawyer and businessman and a resident of Woodside for 10 years, died April 3 in Fresno. He was 61.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he moved to California in 1964. He and his wife settled in Merced in 1991, where he opened and developed a law practice. He was active in local charitable organizations, including the Kiwanis Club and Congregation Etz Chaim. Mr. Berger previously spent 20 years in the Bay Area as a businessman and lawyer. He is survived by his wife Judith; his children, Richard, David and Ashley; two grandchildren, Lauren and Evan; and his sister, Phyllis Morgenstern.

A memorial will be held in his honor at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 14, in San Jose.

Alice Genevieve Rapley

Menlo Park native

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 10, at St. Nicholas Catholic Church, 473 Lincoln Ave., in Los Altos, for Alice Genevieve Rapley, who was born in Menlo Park 92 years ago. Ms. Rapley died in Cupertino on April 3.

Raised in Menlo Park, Ms. Rapley taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Half Moon Bay before World War II, according to her niece and goddaughter, Alice Wichman. She enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943, and was an air traffic controller in Corpus Christi, Texas.

After her military service, she taught elementary school in Los Altos until leaving for Germany in the early 1950s to teach in a school for U.S. military dependents.

When she returned to the United States after two years in Germany, she taught fourth- and fifth-graders in Los Altos until retiring in 1968, her niece said.

Ms. Rapley is survived by a brother, James Rapley of Woodside; a sister, Pauline Murphy of Los Altos; and several nieces and nephews.

A 7 p.m. vigil is scheduled for April 9 at the Los Altos Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries, 399 S. San Antonio Road. Burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park following the April 10 funeral Mass.

The family prefers that memorial contributions be made to the charity of the donor's choice.