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Publication Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Obituaries
Obituaries
(January 21, 2004)
Jane Gallagher
Portola Valley artist, active community volunteer
Jane Gallagher, Portola Valley artist whose paintings and sketches reflect her love of the land and respect for the environment, died January 17 at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City after a brief illness.
A memorial gathering to celebrate her life will be held at a future date. Her daughter Michelle Gallagher of Sacramento and sister Sally Reed of Ross in Marin County survive her.
Born in 1930 in Palo Alto when it was a sleepy college town, Ms. Gallagher said she had the opportunity to learn and love a very different Peninsula. Her parents proclaimed her an artist at age 3. She continued to use the studio easel that her grandfather gave her when she was 13 during 42 years in her studio in her Portola Valley home.
Ms. Gallagher studied art at San Jose University and added an English major after meeting and then marrying Jack Gallagher, then editor of the Spartan Daily.
She worked as a graphic designer/publications specialist for several companies, including SRI, Hewlett-Packard and Vidya Division, Iteko Corporation. When computers took over the art department at SRI, she faced a choice: learn computers or earn her living as an artist. She chose art and "never looked back," she said in an interview.
Ms. Gallagher's dreams of having her landscape paintings and drawings published in a book came true in 1996. Her "California -in solitude and silence," a collection of 31 landscapes in color, mostly local vistas, was published with gratitude to Rodney Smith of Portola Valley, she said, "who found my work in a backwoods gallery" and Altera Corporation of Santa Clara County.
She was actively affiliated with the Portola Valley Art Gallery, a cooperative formerly located in the Old Red Schoolhouse on Portola Road, and now relocated in former classroom space at Town Center.
Ms. Gallagher was the founder of Portola Valley's Cultural Arts Committee and played a key role in supporting the arts. Some of her paintings illustrate the recently published history of Portola Valley, "Life on the San Andreas Fault," written by Nancy Lund and Pamela Gullard. Her work also was used for the town's Millennium Campaign brochure to support the town's acquisition fund.
She often donated her art for environmental causes. A favorite environmental group was the Committee for Green Foothills, and she served on the board for the past three years.
Ms. Gallagher was honored by the town as a "star volunteer" and unofficial town artist at the town's annual celebration in December 1999.
Carole Frederick
Woodside resident
Carole Joy Frederick of Woodside died January 3. She was 72.
Ms. Frederick is survived by her husband of 54 years, Victor; children, Andy, Karl, Vicki and Karen; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Family members said she loved children and wrote this couplet for them: "I want to remember each day that I live, that it's nothing to take, but it's something to give."
The family prefers donations to the Ronald McDonald House, Palo Alto. Arrangements were under the direction of the Woodside Chapel of Crippen and Flynn, Redwood City.
Maureen Patterson
Girl Scout chairman
Maureen Ann (Galvin) Patterson died unexpectedly January 2 in Menlo Park, where she had lived for 24 years. She was 58.
Ms. Patterson was born in San Francisco and moved to San Carlos with her family in the 1950s. She graduated from Notre Dame High School and College of Notre Dame. She continued her studies at California State University, Hayward, where she obtained her elementary teaching credential. She taught in the Alum Rock School District for five years.
Ms. Patterson was very involved in the South County Girl Scout Association and had served as its cookie sales chairman, say family members.
She is survived by her husband, John Patterson; a daughter, Erin Patterson; her mother, Josephine Galvin; two brothers, Michael Galvin of San Carlos and Daniel Galvin of Danville; a sister, Kathie Comstock of San Carlos; her aunt, Elizabeth Maher of San Carlos; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
The family prefers memorial contributions to the Girl Scouts of America, Notre Dame de Namur University (College of Notre Dame), or a charity of choice.
William Moser
Menlo College registrar
A memorial gathering will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, January 24, in the Judge Russell Room at Menlo College for William Alexander (Bill) Moser. A resident of Menlo Park since 1952, Mr. Moser died peacefully at home on January 14 after a long battle with cancer. He was 78.
Mr. Moser was born and raised in Grants Pass, Oregon. He served as a hospital corpsman in the Navy during World War II and was stationed in Okinawa. After earning his associate of arts degree from Menlo College in 1948, he transferred to Indiana University and received his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1950.
After returning to Menlo College to teach science and health education, he continued his education at Stanford University, earning a master's degree in 1957.
During his years at Menlo College, Mr. Moser served as associate director of admissions from 1959 to 1962, registrar from 1962 to 1980, and again associate director of admissions from 1980 to 1988. During his years at Menlo, he took a strong interest in student groups, including "Circle K," which he helped found in 1969. Mr. Moser was also an active member of the Menlo Park Kiwanis Club.
Following his retirement in 1988, Mr. Moser volunteered in Europe, teaching English in Slovakia and Lithuania for several years. He used local resources to help provide clothes, insulin medicine for a refugee child, and educational support of Eastern Europe families and students. In 1997 he joined friends in a march protesting the rule of President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, say family members.
Mr. Moser is survived by his wife of 44 years, Anne; daughters Megan Moser Rosenhart of Menlo Park and Nancy DeShetler of Los Altos; brothers Jack Moser of Bend, Oregon, and C.J. Moser in Grants Pass, Oregon; and two granddaughters.
The family prefers that memorial donations be made to the following organizations: Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, Doctors without Borders, or Kaiser Redwood City Hospice.
George Clark
Former Atherton resident
George Clark, a 40-year resident of Atherton and Menlo Park, died January 12 in Lincoln, California. He was 79.
Mr. Clark was a native of Mishawaka, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
A veteran of World War II, he saw action with field artillery at the Battle of the Bulge in Europe.
Mr. Clark's business, Clark Door Company, was located in San Carlos. He was an active member of the Menlo Park Rotary Club and Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Clark is survived by his wife of 51 years, Dona; daughters Chris and Mary; a son, Tom; and three grandchildren.
Services were held January 17 in Lincoln. Remembrances may be sent to Lincoln Hills Community Church, 1928 Farmgate Lane, Lincoln, CA 95648.
Jenny Sorensen
Former Menlo Park resident
Jenny Aldeguer Sorensen, who lived in Menlo Park for 15 years, died January 10 in Redwood City. She was 97.
Ms. Sorensen was born in Hangkow, China. She was working for a French engineering firm in Japan when she met her husband, the late Lars Sorensen, who was Danish. The couple lived in Saigon, Thailand, and Denmark because of Mr. Sorensen's work for a London-based engineering firm, before settling in Honolulu, where they became U.S. citizens.
Ms. Sorensen came to California 19 years ago to be closer to her daughter, Trine Sorensen of Palo Alto. She is also survived by a sister, Mary Johnson of Macau, China; sister-in-law, Sally Aldeguer of London; one grandson; and relatives in Canada.
Graveside services were held at Holy Cross Cemetery, Menlo Park. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. Arrangements were under the direction of Menlo Colonial Chapel.
Coline Cuthbertson
Memorial service
A memorial service for Coline Cuthbertson will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, February 5, at First Presbyterian Church, 1140 Cowper St., Palo Alto. Ms. Cuthbertson, a resident of Portola Valley, died October 20.
Patrick Rich
Woodside resident
Patrick Daniel Rich died at his home in Woodside January 14. He was 23.
Mr. Rich was born in Auburn, New York, and graduated from Weedsport High School in Weedsport, New York. He was a graduate student working toward an MBA at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont.
Mr. Rich is survived by a sister, Cynthia Rich of Camillus, New York; brothers Ronald Rich of Syracuse, New York, Gerald Rich of Washington, Illinois, and Kevin Rich of Auburn, New York; three nephews; and four nieces. He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Marilyn Rich, in 2002 and his brother, Robert Rich, in 1978.
Services were held January 19 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Camillus, New York. Arrangements were under the direction of B.L. Bush & Sons funeral home.
Bertha Cleary
Menlo Park resident
Bertha Cleary, a resident of Menlo Park for more than 50 years, died January 8. She was 85.
Ms. Cleary is survived by her children, Patricia Farrell, Maureen Cleary, Matthew Cleary, Carol Cleary and Jeffrey Cleary; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert Cleary, and two daughters, Madeline Ebling and Roberta Cleary.
A funeral Mass was held January 17 at Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park. Arrangements were under the direction of Redwood Chapel.
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