Obituaries Obituaries (July 10, 2002)

Mabel Buss Crittenden

Portola Valley's wildflower lady

A memorial service for Mabel Buss Crittenden will be held Tuesday, July 16, at 5:30 p.m., at Valley Presbyterian Church, 945 Portola Road, in Portola Valley.

Mrs. Crittenden, a longtime Portola Valley resident who brought her love and knowledge of wildflowers to thousands, died at home July 1 after a short illness. She was 85.

"Mabel was a perpetual teacher," says longtime friend Esther Litton of Portola Valley. She taught generations of children in Portola Valley Schools about wildflowers. She was a docent at Stanford's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve.

When she went on dory trips down the Grand Canyon, she would teach her companions about the plants, Mrs. Litton remembers. On an Elderhostel trip to Iceland, Mrs. Crittenden got down on her hands and knees to explain the flowers. "They didn't grow very high," she says.

Born in Provo, Utah, at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, Mabel Buss moved to Palo Alto with her family when she was small. She attended Palo Alto schools, and graduated with distinction in biology from San Jose State College, where her father was a professor of geology. After graduate study at Stanford, she taught high school biology for several years in Lodi, California.

In 1942, she married the late Max D. Crittenden Jr., a classmate at college and geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. They spent the rest of the war years "in the field" across the West, where Max assessed manganese resources while Mabel acted as field assistant, typist and project botanist. The Crittendens lived in Salt Lake City with their four daughters before moving to Portola Valley in 1956.

For many years, summer field camps in the Wasatch Mountains were high points for all the Crittendens. Mrs. Crittenden and her daughters -- and later grandchildren -- camped and observed wildflowers, while Dr. Crittenden studied the rocks and geology of the range.

In Portola Valley, the Crittendens built their own house, and worked together to establish a garden. Mrs. Crittenden earned a master's degree in library science. About 1960, she became librarian for the Portola Valley School District, starting at Portola School, which is now Town Center. Dr. Crittenden was active in the efforts that led to incorporation of Portola Valley as a town in 1964.

During some 15 years with the Portola Valley schools, Mrs. Crittenden was immensely popular. She developed a system for teaching young children about wildflowers, and also developed a writing contest where children produced books, and got prizes for both writing and illustration, recalls Robin Toews, a close friend and longtime fourth-grade teacher.

"She was amazing," says Mrs. Toews. "She connected with so many people at so many levels."

Working with Corte Madera Principal Dorothy Telfer, Mrs. Crittenden incorporated her method for teaching about wildflowers into a book. "Wildflowers of the West," published in 1975, makes botany understandable to children -- and others -- by grouping plant families by the number of petals.

The book also tells what plants are used for; shows smiley faces for edible plants and frowny faces for poisonous ones; and has a final chapter on "belly flowers" -- flowers so small you need to get on your belly to see them.

"It's really a great book," says Jean Lane, longtime friend and co-docent at Jasper Ridge.

Since retiring, Mrs. Crittenden has written books about wildflowers of the East, trees of the West, and ferns. At the time of her death, she was working on a book about one of her favorite subjects, desert wildflowers. The family plans to complete the book, says her daughter, Susan Zoller.

"One of her great loves was the desert," says Mrs. Lane. She gave a talk on desert wildflowers to the Westridge Garden Club just last March, she notes.

Mrs. Crittenden also served on the board of the Sempervirens Fund, and was active in the California Native Plant Society and the Western Horticulture Society.

Mrs. Crittenden is survived by her daughters Beth Schwarzman, of Falmouth, Maine, Joan Crittenden of Truckee, California, Susan Zoller of Bellingham, Washington, Laurel Crittenden of Portola Valley; her sister, Helen Halsey of Jersey Island, California; her brother, Robert Buss, of Palo Alto; and five grandchildren.

The family suggests donations to the Sempervirens Fund, Drawer BE, Los Altos, CA 94023; 650-968-4509.
Rose DiMuro

Former Menlo Park resident

Rose DiMuro, who resided in Menlo Park with her son and family before moving to a care facility in San Jose, died July 2. She was 88.

Mrs. DiMuro was born in Southern Italy and came to this country as a child with her parents and eight brothers and sisters. The family lived in the Bronx where she worked as a bookkeeper and clerk after high school until marrying her husband, the late Romano DiMuro. The couple lived in the Bronx and later built a home in Crestwood, Yonkers, New York.

She eventually returned to bookkeeping work at a local commercial refrigeration company. After retirement, the couple divided their time between Florida and New York, then moved to Delray Beach, Florida.

Mrs. DiMuro enjoyed telling her grandchildren about her life as a young child in Italy. When living in the East, she took the grandchildren on many outings in New York City.

She is survived by her son, Peter DiMuro, and wife, Lucille, of Menlo Park; sisters Sylvia Piscitelli and Tillie Coppola of New York; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass was held July 5 at Church of the Nativity, Menlo Park, with interment at Holy Cross Cemetery. Arrangements were under the direction of the Menlo Park Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries.
Albert A. and Mary E. Meyer

In the July 3 issue of the Almanac, an obituary was published on Albert A. and Mary E. Meyer, former residents of Menlo Park, who were killed May 25 on U.S. 101 near Ukiah. These points were omitted: Mary Meyer was a graduate of Menlo-Atherton High School and attended the University of California at San Luis Obispo. She was preceded in death by her father, Sgt. Ed Pabalis of the Menlo Park Police Department. He retired in 1966 and died in 1967. A memorial Mass was celebrated on May 25 at St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Ukiah.

Augusta Brown

Former Menlo resident

Augusta Brown died in her Los Altos home June 28 at the age of 84. She was born in Taconic, New York, and worked as a teacher in New York and New Jersey. She moved to California to be close to her children after the death of her husband in 1990. She lived in Menlo Park from 1991 until 1994.

Ms. Brown is survived by two sons, Terry Brown of Redwood City and Russell Brown of San Jose; a daughter, Susan Brown of Palo Alto; and four grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the American Heart Association or Johns Hopkins University.