|
Publication Date: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 Obituaries
Obituaries
(March 02, 2005)
William Ray Cheney
Peninsula artist
William R. Cheney, a Menlo Park resident for 39 years, died February 10 after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76.
A graduate of the University of Washington, Mr. Cheney was art director for several Bay Area advertising agencies, instigated and taught a professional practices program at the College of San Francisco, served as president of the Artists and Art Directors Club of San Francisco, and worked with cartoonist Marty Links creating drawings for Hallmark greeting cards.
In 1966 he joined the editorial staff of Sunset magazine and moved to Menlo Park. Retiring as art director 24 years later, he was active in the Peninsula Outdoor Painters and the San Mateo Arts Council.
Mr. Cheney began drawing with Larry Lippold of Stanford's Continuing Studies program, highlighted by sketching trips to Italy, France and England.
His volunteer work in Filoli's Nature Education Program included leading nature walks for Peninsula school children, and teaching nature drawing classes.
Mr. Cheney retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1988.
For many years he enjoyed and supported the San Francisco Ballet, the San Francisco Symphony, and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, family members said.
Mr. Cheney is survived by his wife of 52 years, Louise; sons Richard of New York City and James of Santa Rosa; daughter Catherine Curtis of Fairfax, Virginia; and four grandchildren.
A private celebration of his life will be held.
The family suggests donations to: "Walking for Ben," the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, 675 North First St., Suite 1100, San Jose, CA 95112; or Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, H-3680, Stanford, CA 94305.
Dora Margaret Wolfe
71-year Menlo Park resident
Dora Margaret Wolfe died February 17 at the age of 91.
Ms. Wolfe was born in Birmingham, England and came to the United States in 1919. She spent the rest of her life in California, living in Menlo Park for 71 years.
She loved her garden, and enjoyed writing and history, family members said. She died surrounded by her family.
She is survived by her son Lowell Wolfe of Redwood City; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Services were held. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations to the American Heart Association.
Thomas J. Henderson
Executive and civic leader
A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 5, for Thomas J. Henderson, a Menlo Park resident for the past 22 years, who died February 14 at Stanford Hospital. He was 73.
The service will start at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto.
Mr. Henderson grew up in Winona, Minnesota, and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1954. In the same year he married Mitzi Gebhard.
After serving in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps, he entered the heavy construction business, working for 33 years for Guy F. Atkinson Co. of South San Francisco, ultimately becoming president, CEO and chairman of the company before his retirement in 1994.
Mr. Henderson was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto, serving as an elder and in other lay leadership roles. In 2003 he led a major church capital campaign.
He served for many years on the board of the Mid-Peninsula YMCA, whose Red Triangle award he received in 2004. He facilitated the merger of the Sequoia YMCA into the Mid-Peninsula YMCA and was active in planning the development of a new East Palo Alto facility.
He chaired the YMCA of the USA National Board from 1999 to 2001 and served for 11 years on numerous committees of the national YMCA.
At the time of his death, Mr. Henderson chaired a committee for the development of a new YMCA national headquarters.
He was trustee of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley for 11 years, and served as the school's acting and interim president from April 1994 to June 1996.
Mr. Henderson joined his wife in longtime activism for social justice for gays and lesbians. He was chapter president of the San Jose/Midpeninsula Chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays) from 2001 to his death.
Mr. Henderson is survived by his wife of 50 years, Mitzi Henderson of Menlo Park; four children, Alec Henderson of Menlo Park, James Henderson of Denver, Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire, Connecticut, and Celia Jaffe of Huntington Beach; and seven grandchildren.
Frank Fregoso
Korean War veteran, gardener
Frank Fregoso, a longtime resident of Woodside, died January 27 at the age of 75.
A native of California, he was raised in San Francisco. Mr. Fregoso worked for Pan Am as an aircraft mechanic before enlisting in the U.S. Army. He served in the Korean War from 1953 to 1954.
Mr. Fregoso loved airplanes and photography, and took numerous photographs of his artillery base, family members said. After the war, he worked on Kwajalein Island in the South Pacific before returning to the Bay Area.
Mr. Fregoso moved to Woodside in 1969 with his wife and two children. In later years, his passion turned to gardening. After taking a horticultural course, he pursued a career as a gardener until his retirement in 1991.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara Fregoso; children Laura Rubinchik and Tony Fregoso; and one grandson.
A private inurnment was held at Skylawn Memorial Park. Family and friends will be invited to a celebration of life at a later date.
Adrienne Olzak
Homemaker
Adrienne Olzak, a resident of Menlo Park since 1992, died February 18. She was 86.
At the age of 18, Ms. Olzak won a four-year scholarship to the University of Chicago, writing a proposal for establishing a world organization of nations to ensure peace, her family said. She graduated with a degree in social statistics in 1941.
Ms. Olzak and her husband moved to California in 1976, where she was a homemaker and they raised two daughters, Susan and Lynn. She is survived by her daughters and their families.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Menlo Park chapel of Spangler Mortuaries. Memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation in Ms. Olzak's name.
Kirke 'P.J.' Sonnichsen
Composer, sound designer
A memorial gathering will be held later this month for Kirke "P.J." Sonnichsen, who died February 16 at the age of 45.
Family members said he took his own life in his Menlo Park home.
Born at what is now the Hoover Pavilion at Stanford Hospital, Mr. Sonnichsen attended local schools, including Peninsula and Menlo-Atherton High. His father, Deke Sonnichsen of Menlo Park, said he was the first and youngest person to be issued a student balloon pilot's certificate, at age 14.
After passing the state high school equivalency exam at 15, Mr. Sonnichsen took computer music courses at Stanford University and at other schools. He earned a bachelor of science degree from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, where he was president of the student body.
Mr. Sonnichsen married actress Beth Donahue in Reno and they moved to Cape Cod, Mass., where he worked as art director for Cape Cod Life Magazine, changing the publication from manual paste-up to fully computerized layout and production, his father said.
When the couple returned to California, Mr. Sonnichsen worked as director of the sound division of Berkeley Systems Inc., which was known for the "flying toaster" screen saver and the "You Don't Know Jack" computer trivia game. He also worked with theater groups such as the Hyannis Center Theater Company in Cape Cod and the Shotgun Players in Oakland.
Mr. Sonnichsen and Ms. Donahue were divorced and had no children.
Besides his father, Mr. Sonnichsen is also survived by his uncles, Donald Sonnichsen of Palo Alto and David Sonnichsen of Eugene, Oregon. A memorial gathering is being planned in the Menlo Park/Palo Alto area.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Neptune Society. Memorial donations may be made to the donor's favorite charity.
Sanford Lowengart Jr.
Investment counselor
Sanford Philip Lowengart Jr., a Portola Valley resident and longtime investment counselor, died February 14 at Stanford Hospital. He was 87.
Mr. Lowengart graduated in 1938 from Stanford University and received a master's degree in business from Harvard University in 1940. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II and was discharged as a major in 1946. He was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
Mr. Lowengart worked for 50 years as an investment counselor in San Francisco. Among his favorite memories were his years -- from 1979 to 1990 -- as a docent at the de Young Museum, said his wife Eleanor "Lynn" Lowengart. For a time, he was an executive at Fort Mason Center.
Locally, Mr. Lowengart served as treasurer of Friends of the Library and as a member of Valley Presbyterian Church's Mission Committee, which distributes funds to charitable organizations.
Mr. Lowengart is survived by his wife Eleanor "Lynn" of Portola Valley; sons Philip of Washington, D.C., John of Vancouver, Washington, and Sanford III of San Francisco, all of whom are from previous marriages; and sister Sally Lilienthal of San Francisco.
At Mr. Lowengart's request, there will be no memorial service. Arrangements were by Roller Hapgood & Tinney Funeral Home in Palo Alto.
Thomas Koo
Portola Valley resident
Thomas S. Koo, a Portola Valley resident and native of Shanghai, died February 18 at his home in Portola Valley. He was 81.
Mr. Koo is survived by his wife Zona of Portola Valley; brothers T.Z. and T.C. of Mountain View; and sisters Theresa of San Francisco, Frances of Palo Alto, and Paula and Mary of Shanghai.
Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Following a memorial Mass held Friday, February 25, Mr. Koo was interred at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, with arrangements by Spangler Mortuaries in Mountain View.
Betty Lohman
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 2, for Betty Lohman of Menlo Park, who died February 23 at the age of 83. The service will be at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church at 950 Santa Cruz Ave. An obituary will appear in a later issue of the Almanac.
E-mail a friend a link to this story. |
