October 13, 2004

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Publication Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Obituaries

A memorial service for Marcy Harris Conley, who combined a career in real estate with family and volunteer work, was held October 11 in Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.

Ms. Conley died in her sleep October 5 in her Menlo Park home.

She was the widow of Harry Conley, a master horseman, hands-on cattleman and decorated World War II bomber pilot, who died two years ago.

Her career in real estate spanned 25 years. She was an associate vice president with Cornish & Carey, which later merged with Coldwell Banker.

A daughter of an U.S. Naval officer, she spent many years in Hawaii and was there during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

She attended Punahou School in Honolulu and later studied at Connecticut College and Boston University, where she concentrated on English and journalism.

She settled in California and moved from San Francisco to Atherton in 1966.

Volunteer work was an important part of Ms. Conley's life, said her associates. She was active in Peninsula Volunteers, Atherton Dames, Menlo-Atherton Newcomers, Holbrook-Palmer Park Foundation and the Menlo Park City School District. As a committee chair, she spearheaded the first annual "Day at the Park" at Holbrook-Palmer Park.

Her survivors include these children, Jill, Audrey and Becky Benschoof, and Lynn Harris of Southern California; Mark Harris and Bart Johnson-Harris of Rhode Island; and step-daughter Sue Conley of Menlo Park.

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

Bessie "Betsy" Bliss
Nurse, 50-year resident of Menlo Park

Betsy Bliss, a nurse and homemaker who lived for 40 years in a house built by Jane Stanford, died September 7 of natural causes at The Sequoias in Portola Valley. She was 84.

Bessie Mae Thrower -- she liked to be called "Betsy" -- was born and grew up in Minerva, Ohio. She graduated as a registered nurse from Mt. Sinai Hospital in Cleveland in 1941.

Also in 1941, she married her hometown sweetheart, Claire N. Pieren, an Air Force pilot. She lost him "missing in action" during World War II. They had one daughter, the late Carolyn Sue Bliss Hendrich.

In 1948, Betsy Pieren married Paul Bliss, who ran a gas station in Palo Alto for years, and later worked at Smith's Sport Shop in Palo Alto and Shreve's Sport Shop in Menlo Park. They had four children. He died in 1988.

Mrs. Bliss's daughter, Barbara Bishop of Los Gatos, remembers moving into the old-fashioned house at the corner of Santa Cruz Avenue and Sand Hill Road when she was 6. "It was beautiful," she said. "Sand Hill was a little country road with a couple of stop signs."

That was the house that Jane Stanford built in 1902 for her devoted secretary Bertha Behrens. Mrs. Bliss lived there and raised five children, until she moved to The Sequoias in 1998. The old house at 2104 Sand Hill Road has now been restored and redeveloped as part of an office complex.

Her daughters remember Mrs. Bliss as a wonderful homemaker and gardener as well as a wonderful nurse. She was a fine cook and preferred natural and organic foods before they were fashionable, wrote her daughter, Virginia Bliss of Santa Cruz. She also enjoyed golf, tennis and fly-fishing. She loved music and played the piano.

"She had an affinity for textiles, and became an accomplished seamstress, knitter, and maker of braided rugs," Virginia Bliss wrote. "She tolerated a rambunctious household which included rock collections, musical instruments, tree forts, many pets, and five children who loved freedom."

In 1963, Mrs. Bliss resumed her nursing career at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic, where she had worked during the 1940s. She later worked at Stanford Hospital, and retired in 1983. She was a member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, then St. Bede's, then Christ Church in Portola Valley.

Mrs. Bliss is survived by a sister, Hilda Shaw, of Fort Myers, Florida; two daughters, Barbara Bishop of Los Gatos and Vrginia Bliss of Santa Cruz; two sons, Robert Bliss of Corralitos and William Bliss of Chico; 12 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and two great-great granchildren.

The family suggests donations to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, 725 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304.

Alice Carlson
Pink Lady volunteer

Alice Carlson died September 25 at Canyon House assisted- living facility in Menlo Park after a long illness. She was 95.

Mrs. Carlson, who lived in Menlo Park for the last five years to be near her family, grew up in Oroville, where she worked as a secretary at the county courthouse and the olive plant.

She married Ralph Carlson, and they moved to Richvale, near Chico, where they were rice farmers for many years.

Her son Jerry Carlson of Lakeport said she enjoyed playing golf, gardening and bridge. She was active with the Pink Lady hospital volunteers for 27 years.

In addition to her son, she is survived by five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Services were held in Oroville on October 2.

The family prefers donations to the Teacher's Fund, Selby Educational Foundation, 50 Woodside Plaza #513, Redwood City, CA 94061; or a favorite charity.

Carolyn Elizabeth Carder,
Menlo Park resident, psychologist

Carolyn Elizabeth Carder, a Menlo Park resident, died September 23 after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 57.

Ms. Carder was active in the Community Breast Health Project of Palo Alto, and provided professional and personal support to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.

A native of St. Louis, she was educated there in the Ladue School System, and in 1969 graduated from Duke University in North Carolina with honors in psychology. She also completed her master's degree from the University of Delaware and her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Ohio State University in 1977.

Ms. Carder worked as an executive in organizational development, initially with Digital Equipment Co. in Boston and later at Bank of Boston, Phillips, and e-Stamp, a Silicon Valley start-up. A licensed psychologist, she owned her own consulting practice and traveled extensively in the United States, Europe and Asia as an adviser.

She and her late husband, James D. Mills, shared an interest in gourmet cooking, travels to Europe, and fine wines.

Ms. Carder is survived by her father, Homer C. Carder of Columbus, North Carolina; step-mother Wendy Carder; brother Stephen Carder of Sarasota, Florida; step-brothers Greg Bowcott of Poway and Randy Bowcott of Waukegan, Illinois; and step-daughters Cate Mills and Monica Devroude, both of Boise, Idaho.

A private family memorial service will be held. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Community Breast Health Project, or the Pathways Hospice in Mountain View.

Roller Hapgood & Tinney Funeral Home handled the arrangements.

Elena Venezia Klein
Organist at Portola Valley church

A memorial Mass for Elena Venezia Klein was held at Our Lady of the Wayside Church in Portola Valley, where she played the organ into her 80s. She was 91 when she died September 26.

Born in Berkeley, she became a mother, housewife, teacher, poet and lover of fine literature and languages, say family members. She lived in Redwood City and San Francisco.

She is survived by six children, 13 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Arrangements were by the Woodside Chapel of Crippen & Flynn.

John Thomas Neylan
Longtime Menlo Park resident

Services for John Thomas Neylan, a Menlo Park resident and retired United Airlines employee, were held Friday, October 1, at Nativity Church in Menlo Park.

Mr. Neylan died September 29 after a long illness. He was 64.

He was the owner of Sweet Amy's Coffee and Ice Cream Shop on Wlllow Road in Menlo Park for about 13 years before selling the business.

Mr. Neylan was born in McGregor, Iowa, and spent most of his young life in Elkader, Iowa. He and his wife Bonnie moved to San Mateo in 1960 and lived in Menlo Park for the past 35-plus years. He retired after working 30 years for United Airlines in San Francisco.

He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Bonnie Neylan, and five children: Tom Neylan, Susie Foster and Amy Nieva, all of Menlo Park; Christine Hickey of Longmont, Colorado; and Cathi Mosbarger of Sacramento; and 14 grandchildren.

The family prefers donations in his name to Nativity School Endowment Fund, 1250 Laurel St., Menlo Park.

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

Frank S. Cerny
Nonagenarian, Menlo Park resident

Frank S. Cerny, a Menlo Park resident for 40 years, died September 8. He was 93.

Mr. Cerny served 20 years of active duty with the Air Force as a civil engineer. He was called up from the reserves, first with the outbreak of World War II and then with the Korean War.

He was active in gardening and ballroom dancing into his early 90s, and especially enjoyed doing the polka, said his daughter Catherine Cerny.

Born in 1911 in Cicero, Illinois, he graduated from Washington State University with a degree in botany. He worked seven years for the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska and Minnesota, where he met his wife Mary.

Living throughout the United States and in Japan, Mr. Cerny sustained his interest in travel that continued into his retirement with trips to Mexico, South America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr. Cerny is survived by his daughter, Catherine Cerny of Menlo Park. His wife Mary and son John preceded him in death.

No memorial services were held.

Emilia Rathbun
Creative Initiative founder

Emilia Lindeman Rathbun, who devoted her adult life to leading seminars and discussion groups on the meaning and purpose of life, died at her home in Palo Alto on October 6. She was 98.

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, October 15, in the First Congregational Church at 1985 Louis Road in Palo Alto.

Mrs. Rathbun and her husband, the late Harry J. Rathbun, a professor of law at Stanford University, are best known as the leaders of Creative Initiative, a nonprofit educational foundation that was based in Palo Alto. At one time, several thousand members were involved throughout the United States.

The Rathbuns lived in Portola Valley from 1974 to 1979 at "Portola Green," built as a planned community off Portola Road for people in the leadership group of Creative Initiative.

In the 1980s, Creative Initiative became the Beyond War movement, a worldwide effort to communicate that nuclear weapons had made all war obsolete, and it was time to build a world beyond war.

The Beyond War Award was presented in a global televised ceremony each year to world leaders, such as Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia, Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, Rajiv Gandhi of India, and Olaf Palme of Sweden.

Since 1992, the educational effort begun by the Rathbuns more than 50 years ago has been known as the Foundation for Global Community.

Mrs. Rathbun was born on New Year' Day of 1906 in Colima, Mexico. Her father, an American citizen, was a civil engineer who built railroads and harbors in Mexico and married the daughter of a wealthy Mexican family.

In a recent interview, Mrs. Rathbun said: "I've lived almost a century and what a marvelous, fulfilling, fast life it has been. I lived on a hacienda, had tutors, rode horseback and in carriages, and sailed on ships whenever we came to America."

Her family moved to San Jose, California, in 1922. She received her teaching credential from San Jose State University, and was chosen Rose Queen of San Jose's "Fiesta de las Rosas" in 1928.

She married Professor Rathbun in 1931, and together they embarked on a life-long journey of helping others. In the early 1950s, they founded Sequoia Seminar, an educational retreat center in the Santa Cruz Mountains. For more than 40 years, they led seminars based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Mrs. Rathbun is survived by her son, Richard Rathbun of Mountain View; daughter, Juana Mueller of Huntington Beach; and four grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Foundation for Global Community, 222 High St, Palo Alto, CA 94301.

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