A list of local residents who died recently

Bernadette Gersh, 60, a resident of Redwood City who entered the U.S. Air Force as a nurse and rose to the rank of Lt. Col. during Desert Storm before working as a pediatric nurse for Kaiser Permanente, died on Feb. 5; Charles "Chuck" C. Harwood, 95, a resident of Portola Valley who served as president of Signetics Corporation, an integrated circuits manufacturer that became a major competitor during the formation of Silicon Valley, died on March 31; Lisa Layne, 66, a Palo Alto native, National Merit Scholar, gymnast, cheerleader and Junior Olympic diver who worked with many Fortune 500 clients with her executive coaching company The Layne Group, died on March 11; Terry Wright, 92, a former Atherton resident who was a devoted tennis player, performed as a dancer in light opera productions and was active in numerous charitable activities, including serving as a volunteer for Fioli, the Committee for Art at Stanford and the Woodside-Atherton Garden Club, died on April 7; Edward Healy "Teddy" Smith, 37, a Mountain View native who earned accolades as a top salesperson in the solar panel industry and was known for his bright red trademark hair and athletic skills, which earned him Most Valuable Player of the rugby football club at Boston College, died on April 9; Leo Daniel Johnson, 78, a long-time Palo Alto resident, deputy sheriff for the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department and the Department of Corrections, and a celebrated athlete who was a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers when the team won the Western Division title in 1970 and was later inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association in San Antonio, Texas, and the Phillis Wheatley Wall of Fame in Houston, died on March 26; George Sterrett Wheaton III, 90, a resident of Portola Valley and fourth-generation Californian who earned an engineering degree from Stanford University, served in the 23rd Armored Engineer Battalion in Germany and later became associate chairman of the Stanford Computer Science Department, died on April 3; Gerry Adams Gilchrist, 96, a longtime Palo Alto resident who worked in the Palo Alto school district for 22 years as a teacher and head of the English department at Palo Alto High School, died on April 5; Sharon Anthony Bower, 90, a resident of Stanford, known as a feisty, pro-choice feminist who earned a master's degree in counseling and psychology and became a pioneer in self-help publishing books before forming the consulting firm Confidence Training, which honed the communication skills of the talent at major tech companies, such as Apple, HP and Oracle, died on April 9; Teresa Waltz Kurfess, 71, a Menlo Park resident and fifth-generation Californian known as a skilled fundraiser and grant writer who dedicated her time working with nonprofits, including the Children's Health Council, Vista Center for the Blind, Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital, the Stanford Health Services Hospital Board, the Cantor Arts Museum, the Palo Alto Community Fund Advisory Board and the Junior League of Palo Alto, died on April 7.

To read full obituaries, leave remembrances and post photos, go to Lasting Memories at AlmanacNews.com/obituaries. n