Obituaries Obituaries (February 25, 2004)

James Calloway

Former Menlo Park mayor

A memorial service will be held Friday, February 27, for former Menlo Park Mayor James Walker Calloway, who died February 6. The service will begin at 2 p.m. at the Cribari Auditorium at the Villages in San Jose, where he lived since 1989.

During the years he lived in Menlo Park, Mr. Calloway served on the Parks and Recreation Commission before being appointed to the City Council, where he served for 16 years, from 1962 to 1978, including a term as mayor in 1976-77. Later, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District. In 1986, he was appointed to the California Waste Management Board by Gov. George Deukmejian.

Mr. Calloway grew up in North Carolina. He left the South during the Depression and worked in New York City until he joined the U.S. Army and served in the South Pacific during World War II.

Mr. Calloway married Elizabeth Church in 1940 in New Jersey where they lived until moving to California in 1957. In Menlo Park he entered the insurance business, working for New York Life, and later opened his own office as an independent agent.

The Calloways retired to The Villages in San Jose in 1989 where he served on the community's board of directors. He was also active in the Masons and SIRS.

He loved golf, fishing, blue grass music, gardening and being with his family, say family members.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Elizabeth Calloway; daughter, Betty Woodward; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

The family prefers donations to the American Cancer Society or The Villages Medical Association.
Philip Schneider

Former Rotary Club president

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, February 26, at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, for Philip Vanderbilt Schneider of Menlo Park. A reception will follow at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton.

Mr. Schneider, a former president of both the Menlo Park and Redwood City Rotary clubs, died February 11. He was 69.

Mr. Schneider was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in business administration. At age 21, during his college years, he became the youngest person to pass the New York Stock Exchange examination, say family members. He also rode as a licensed amateur steeplechase jockey on the Midwestern Steeplechase Circuit.

After graduation in 1958, he married Susan Avril. The couple moved to the Bay Area in 1960 when the Sakrete Company brought him to manage its dry mix concrete facility.

While working at Sakrete, Mr. Schneider began his 42-year association with Rotary International. In 1962 he joined the Milpitas club and in 1965 transferred to the Redwood City club, becoming president in 1969.

After leaving Sakrete to become a stockbroker, he joined the Menlo Park Rotary Club in 1970, holding numerous offices including secretary, president, area representative, district vocational service chairman, and assistant district governor. He was a Paul Harris Fellow.

Mr. Schneider was elected to the board of trustees of the Sequoia Union High School District in 1969 and was a member of the San Mateo County Mounted Patrol.

Mr. Schneider was a deacon in the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and a member of the men's Bible study group. As a longtime member of the Menlo Circus Club, he developed a passion for tennis, say family members. He earned the nickname "Dr. Z" for founding the Z tennis group.

Mr. Schneider is survived by his wife, Susan; sons, Philip Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio, and George of Denver, Colorado; a sister, Lefreda Williams of Southern Pines, North Carolina; a brother, Frederic Schneider of Falmouth, Massachusetts; and four grandchildren.

The family prefers that donations be made to The Rotary Club of Menlo Park Foundation, P.O. Box 876, Menlo Park, CA 94026. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of John O'Connor, Menlo Colonial Chapel.

Robert Wright Babcock II

Student, volunteer

A memorial service will be held for Robert Wright Babcock II, a former Menlo Park resident and recent student at Menlo-Atherton High School, who died Wednesday, February 18. He was 17.

The memorial service is planned for 4 p.m. Wednesday, February 25, at United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave. in Palo Alto.

Robby lived in Menlo Park for 12 years and attended M-A for his freshman, sophomore and junior years, a family friend said. He was spending his senior year at Irvington High School in Fremont. While at M-A, Robby wrestled and played football on the varsity teams, the friend said.

As a volunteer, his activities included Habitat for Humanity, Second Harvest Food Bank and Project Read. "Robby always had a hug and a smile for everybody," the friend said.

Robby is survived by his mother, Katherine Linnemann of Menlo Park; his father, Robert Babcock of Fremont; and his sister Katie Babcock of Menlo Park.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting contributions be made to the Robby Babcock Memorial Scholarship Fund at Menlo-Atherton High School. For more information, call 328-2406.

Mollie Apple

Former president, Friends of Filoli

A memorial service will be held Friday, February 27, for Mollie Apple of Atherton, 63, who died of a stroke February 21. The service will begin at 1 p.m. at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 330 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park.

Born in Pasadena, Ms. Apple was a graduate of Goucher College in Maryland and received a certificate from the Harvard-Radcliffe program in business administration. She was married to Cass Apple in 1963.

During the 37 years she lived in Menlo Park and Atherton, Ms. Apple was active in community affairs. She served as president of the Friends of Filoli, and as a board member of these organizations: Friends of the Atherton Library, Phillips Brooks School, and the San Mateo Garden Club.

She was also a member of the California State Garden Club, the Menlo-Atherton Garden Club, Menlo Country Club, and the Junior League of Palo Alto/Mid Peninsula.

Ms. Apple took great pleasure in watching her grandchildren grow, and enjoyed attending their soccer games and school plays, say family members. She also received support from many friends during her life, especially during the last five years when she battled cancer, say family members.

She is survived by her husband, Cass Apple of Atherton; daughter Elizabeth See of Palo Alto; son David of Atherton; sister Susan Brandenberg of Saratoga; brother John McElwrath of Atlanta, Georgia; and two grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the Friends of Filoli.

Gladys Tagler

Community volunteer

Gladys Magdalena Schwertzler Tagler, who cared for more than two dozen foster children awaiting adoption, while raising her own three children, died February 16 at her Menlo Park home. She was 87.

Ms. Tagler was born in Southampton Township, New Jersey. She married Henry Tagler and moved to California in 1937.

After her children were grown, she worked for 15 years in the housewares department at Macy's in the Stanford Shopping Center.

The Church of the Nativity, where she was a member of the Altar Society for more than 50 years, was the center of her spiritual life, say family members. She went on pilgrimages to the Vatican, the Holy Land, and sacred sites from Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, to Betania, Venezuela. She attended a yearly retreat at St. Claire's Retreat House in Santa Cruz.

Ms. Tagler was a volunteer at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and a member of the Roth Auxiliary. She also volunteered at Treasured, a thrift store in Palo Alto benefiting the Peninsula Stroke Association, and at the Filoli estate in Woodside where she was a docent, family members said. She knitted 35 sweaters a year for disadvantaged babies helped by Young Ladies Institute #209. Ms. Tagler had been an officer and delegate to regional conventions for the organization.

Ms. Tagler is survived by her son Carl of Menlo Park, daughter Holly Pedersen of Wilsonville, Oregon; and three grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, Henry Tagler, and son, Timothy.

The family prefers memorials be made to the Young Ladies Institute, 3144 Louis Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303.

Arrangements were under the direction of the Menlo Park Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries.

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