Obituaries Obituaries (February 11, 2004)

Roger Seccombe

Former Woodside High teacher

Roger Seccombe of Menlo Park died of pneumonia with heart failure complications on January 28. He was 84.

Mr. Seccombe, who began his fourth term as president of the Menlo Park Historical Association last month, was born in Memphis, Mississippi. He met and married Jean Bennett at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 1942. After graduation he joined the U.S. Coast Guard to serve in the Solomon Islands area in World War II.

After the war, Mr. Seccombe attended Columbia University and began his long teaching career at Goddard College in Vermont. During the Korean conflict, he served in the Seattle, Washington, Coast Guard Port Security, and as captain of the Port of Astoria, Oregon.

After the family moved to Palo Alto in 1954, he taught history at Menlo-Atherton High School for four years, then transferred to Woodside High School to become chairman of the Social Studies Department in 1958.

After retiring in 1982, he devoted the rest of his life to community service. He was active in St. Bede's parish activities and its outreach program. Along with serving as president of the historical association, he co-edited the Coast Guard Retiree Council newsletter, and worked for the Service League of San Mateo County, collecting food and visiting jail inmates.

He and his wife took many overseas cruises and tours. He loved the sea, music boxes, snow globes, movies, champagne, and having a good time, say family members.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Jean; children, Ann Seccombe of Redwood City, Thomas Seccombe of San Jose, Alison Gilliland of Norman, Oklahoma, and Matthew Seccombe of Somerville, Massachusetts; and three grandchildren.

The family prefers that memorials be made to the Seccombe Fund for Outreach at St. Bede's Episcopal Church or to a charity of choice.

Allen B. Crowell

Owner, Abar Enterprises

Allen B. Crowell, a resident of Menlo Park for 33 years, died of heart failure on December 6. He was 74.

Mr. Crowell was a second-generation Californian, born in Corona in Riverside County. He met his wife, Alice, in Palo Alto, and they were married in 1963.

Mr. Crowell was "a jack of all trades and master of them all," says Ms. Crowell. "He was extremely talented with his hands." As the owner of Abar Enterprises, he specialized in installing sprinkler systems. Although he retired officially at age 62, he remained on call for his old customers and often worked for the second generation of a family, according to his wife.

He was a proficient wood carver and clock builder, creating a new figure, such as a snowman, every year for his outdoor Christmas display. "We were known as the Christmas house on Coleman Avenue," says Ms. Crowell.

Mr. Crowell earned a certificate of achievement in horticulture/floristry from the College of San Mateo. His specialty was ikebana.

He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Alice; and a number of nieces and nephews. Private services were held at Alta Mesa Cemetery.

Hans Severiens

Founder, Band of Angels investor group

Hans Severiens, founder of the Band of Angels investor group in Menlo Park, died February 3 of lung cancer. He was 74.

Mr. Severiens, who lived in San Francisco, was part of Silicon Valley's first generation of investors. He was an investment banker with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Merrill Lynch and Paine Webber before making the switch to venture capital in the early 1980s. In 1994, he founded the Band of Angels, which has funded more than 100 startups.

The Band of Angels is a group of 100 former and current high-tech executives and entrepreneurs who provide counsel and capital to startup companies. Band members have founded such companies as Cirrus, Logic, Symantec, and Logitech, and have been executive officers at Sun Microsystems, Hewlett Packard, Intel, 3Com and Intuit.

Mr. Severiens was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and moved to Indonesia when he was 5. During World War II, when he was 12, the family fled Indonesia and eventually settled in Chatham, New Jersey. He earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard College and a doctorate in nuclear physics from Johns Hopkins University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.

Mr. Severiens is survived by daughters Annette Himes of Shaker Heights, Ohio, Clara Barrett of Ithaca, New York, and Liesbeth Parke of New York City; 10 grandchildren; his former wife, Elizabeth Severiens; brother, Jacobus T. Severiens; and friend Lynn Hastings.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, February 17, at the Los Altos Union Presbyterian Church, 858 University Ave. Memorials may be made to the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley, re: Hans Severiens Memorial Fund, c/o Band of Angels, 275 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025.

Esther Taege

Former Menlo Park resident

Esther E. Taege, a resident of Menlo Park for 20 years, died February 4 in Mountain View. She was 90.

Ms. Taege was a native of Portland, Oregon. She is survived by her daughters, Harriet J. Eastburg of Redwood City, Marian L. Taege of Cupertino, and Virginia M. Taege of San Francisco; sister Ruth Dow of San Diego; brother Rolland Ingraham of Sacramento; and two grandchildren. Her husband, George D. Taege, predeceased her.

Services were held February 9 at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. Arrangements were under the direction of Redwood Chapel, Redwood City.

John Barrette

Former Menlo-Atherton basketball coach

John Barrette, who served as head varsity basketball coach at Menlo-Atherton High School for 14 years, died January 31 in Sacramento of a brain tumor and lung cancer. He was 71.

Mr. Barrette began his coaching career in 1953 as a junior varsity baseball coach at Bellarmine Prep. He got his first basketball head-coaching job at St. Francis in 1963-64, then moved on to Menlo-Atherton the following season.

He served as head basketball coach at Palo Alto High School from 1986 to 1994. He retired to Sonora, where he became freshman basketball coach at Sonora High School.

Mr. Barrette is survived by his wife of 36 years, Charlene; sister, Deirdre Olson; three daughters; and seven grandchildren. Donations may be made to the John Barrette Scholarship Fund, c/o Sonora High School, Attention: Rick Francis, 430 N. Washington St., Sonora, CA 95370.

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